Spirits from the Past
by energy
Summary: I couldn't stop where i ended it, so here is a little epilogue and a few other things about the story... it is now FINISHED, tho
1. Arthur's surprise

Harry had spent nearly all of the summer at the Burrow this year, and if Arthur and Molly had anything to say about it, that is where he would stay forever. Arthur had been doing a spot of checking up on Harry for Dumbledore again, as he had on occasion all summer. He had apparated in the back yard of the Dursley's home at dusk and immediately heard some sort of commotion inside. Pulling out his wand, Arthur quietly snuck up to the window and peeked in.  
  
What he saw completely stunned him. He saw Mrs. Dursley and that porcine son of hers standing in the hallway looking on in surprise and terror as Mr. Dursley was drawing back a big meaty fist. Harry was already doubled over at the waist, giving Arthur the impression that this wasn't the first blow. Before he could so much as shout a single word, Mr. Dursley's fist slammed into the side of Harry's face and sent his glasses flying across the kitchen. There was another loud bellow from Mr. Dursley and he prepared to hit young Harry again.  
  
Arthur immediately disapparated and reapparated in the kitchen between the two.  
  
"If you're going to wail on somebody, try doing it to someone your own size," he said even though he was nowhere near the morbidly obese man's size.  
  
"Gittoutta ma' way," shouted the big man, waving his other hand at Arthur. Arthur quickly noticed that the other hand was holding a nearly empty bottle of bourbon. "I've 'ad enough o this one. I'ma gonna stop 'is magic once 'n forall."  
  
Mr. Dursley staggered for a second, and in this instant, Arthur surveyed the rest of the scene. Harry's face was covered in blood, his shirt all ripped to pieces and something was spilled all over his jeans. The other Dursley's hadn't moved a muscle since he first saw them. Arthur looked back just in time to see the brown bottle come swinging at his head and barely miss.  
  
"Abierto!" he yelled at the back door and it swung open. Dodging a second swing of the bottle, he pushed Harry out the back door onto the grass. The third time was definitely not the charm for Mr. Weasley, as the huge hand of Mr. Dursley connected solidly with his stomach. Luckily for Arthur, while he was trying to get his breath back, Mr. Dursley stopped to laugh heartily at what he had done. "Look a' 'im, Petunia, can't none o these 'agic folk take a 'it."  
  
To say that Arthur saw red at that moment would be about the biggest understatement of the year. He jumped to his feet and pushed his hair out of his eyes. Waving his wand, he growled out "Tremetrio!" and watched as big Mr. Dursley flew from the kitchen and landed in the sitting room with an explosion similar to a small nuclear weapon. Pictures and plaster fell from the wall and ceiling and silence filled the house.  
  
"Mr. Dursley, we will speak again at a later time. And you, boy, gather Harry's things and bring them here. Go on, choi choi." Dudley looked to his mother and got a quick nod of the head for approval. He stomped up the stairs as quickly as he could, covering his rear in case he might happen to grow another tail.  
  
"Mrs. Dursley," he began, stopping to gather his breath, "I am taking Harry with me, and once I get him proper attention, I am going to call your constabules."  
  
"Constables," she hoarsely corrected him.  
  
"Right. I know that you have no love for your nephew, but to allow this is inexcusable." He was about to berate her more, but Harry's trunk came sliding down the stairs at that moment, followed closely by Dudley who nearly fell and dropped an overflowing armload of Harry's things. Hedwig was most unhappy about being carried in such a way and bit Dudley's finger quite hard.  
  
"Put them on the front walk, please. Careful of the owl, they don't care for jostling." Dudley put the trunk and the rest of Harry's stuff on the walk and quickly scurried to his room.  
  
Mrs. Weasley was now sobbing, but for whom Arthur knew not. He walked out the back door and looked at the beaten and bloody mess that was Harry Potter.  
  
"Oh Harry, I'm so sorry I didn't get here a bit sooner." Harry had passed out and Arthur fought back a tear. Just one minute and we'll get you out of here. He stormed through the house giving Mrs. Dursley's sobbing form a withering stare and headed to the front door. After opening Hedwig's cage and releasing the owl, he pointed his wand at the belongings on the step and waved his wand. "The Burrow, Ottery St. Catchpole." The objects levitated for a moment and took off through the night sky. "Hedwig, you know where to go. We'll be along shortly." With a squawk, Hedwig took off, heading for the Weasley's.  
  
He walked back through the house and as he stepped out the back door, he turned and said to Mrs. Dursley, "I suggest that you owl an attorney, ma'am." With that he walked out and stepped over to Harry's limp form.  
  
"Let's get you out of here, lad," he said as he picked up Harry and quickly thought that he was surprisingly light for a boy his age. "We'll get you taken care of, Harry. And some good food in you, too." Once he had Harry in his arms, he apparated back to the Burrow. 


	2. wounds and promises

Um…standard disclaimers (me poor, she rich) part two. Enjoy. And as always, R/R!!!!  
  
  
  
Arthur apparated into the backyard of the Burrow, still holding Harry tightly in his arms. With one hand he shoved the door open and quickly walked into the house. He overheard Molly asking Ginny to go get the boys from the field for dinner. She was walking toward the back door when she passed her father and the bloody and unconscious Harry. Ginny gave a shriek and fell back against the wall with her hands over her mouth.  
  
"Ginny, did you see a mouse?" came a call from the kitchen. "Ginny?"  
  
Arthur strode in the kitchen carrying Harry and headed for the living room couch. "Molly, bring some rags please. Wet ones." Molly gave a little yelp of surprise "Harry? Is he, is he okay?"  
  
As he was about to answer, the back door slammed and the sound of Ginny running out into the yard and yelling Ron's name over and over again could be heard. "I think so. His uncle was beating on him. He was drunk out of his mind."  
  
Molly stepped in with a rag and carefully started wiping the blood off of Harry's face. "The poor dear. How could he do that?"  
  
"I don't know Molly, but if you'll excuse me for a moment, I'm going to make sure it never happens again." Mr. Weasley walked over to the 'telly-phone' and called the police.  
  
Molly lifted the tatters of Harry's shirt and looked at his chest and stomach. "He's so thin," she thought, as she saw a number of ugly bruises just starting to form on his side. Looking up his chest, she noticed how visible his ribs were, and that at least one of them appeared to be broken, maybe two. She was just lifting the shirt over Harry's head when a herd of elephants stormed in the back door and headed right for the living room.  
  
"Harry!!! Is he alright, mum? Is he?" Ron was nearly crying at the sight of his best friend laying in that condition. Ginny had said that he was hurt, but he wasn't ready for this. Behind Ron, the twins stood absolutely silent and still, probably for the first time in their lives. Ron reached down and grasped Harry's hand in his and kneeled down near Harry. "Harry! Harry, wake up. It's me, Ron. You're safe now," he said softly as a few tears fell down his cheeks.  
  
Ron squeezed Harry's hand lightly and after about ten seconds, Harry squeezed back. Ron covered their hands in his other one, and looked over at the rest of his family. Ginny put a hand on his shoulder and he looked back down at Harry, who had begun to stir.  
  
"Oh Harry, easy dear, you're in pretty rough shape," Molly said as Harry opened his and tried to lift his head up.  
  
"Easy, Ron, you might break me more," Harry squeaked out as Ron gave him a hug.  
  
"Fred, go into the cabinet and bring me the emergency potion kit." Fred left immediately and returned with a wicker basket of labeled bottles.  
  
"Here Harry, drink these two. They won't taste all wonderful, but they'll make you feel better." Molly handed Harry two small bottles, one of which was pea soup green, and the other was a bright, obnoxiously bright Chudley Cannons orange. Harry read the labels after he drank them and discovered that the green soupy one was a tonic to make the swellings go down, while the orange one (which tasted like a very sweet blackberry) was a pain blocker.  
  
After he had downed the two bottles, he felt a bit better almost immediately. He sat up and moaned a little. "Harry, what happened?"  
  
"It was my uncle. He had come home from a very lousy day at work and was mumbling something about losing a huge order of drills and he started drinking quickly and ceaselessly. Could I have a cup of water, please?" Ginny was in the kitchen and back in short order.  
  
"I guess that I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. I was coming in the back door after trimming the hedges and he just started yelling at me. Horrible stuff, mostly." Harry looked away a minute and then faced them again. "If Mr. Weasley hadn't been there, I might well be dead now."  
  
"Well Harry, if Arthur and I have anything to do about it, you'll never see him again, unless you wanted to visit him in the muggle prison."  
  
Harry smiled wanly at that, thinking that there would only be two people to torment him there now, not three. As if reading Harry's thoughts, Ron piped in, "Mum, Harry isn't going back there, is he? You can't let him! There's more than enough space in my room. I'll even sleep in the yard if I have to."  
  
"Easy, Ron. No Harry isn't going back there and yes, he can stay with us. He is almost a Weasley already anyway," Molly said, calming her youngest son's fears.  
  
There was a knocking at the front door and Ginny went to open it. Outside were Harry's belongings floating over the doormat. "Come on in, top of the stairs please." The trunk and other assorted items nonchalantly flew past the gathering in the living room and sailed up the stairs.  
  
"Okay everyone, let's let Harry get a little rest now. Ginny, help me with dinner. Fred and George, go, oh, go make mischief quietly." With that announcement, the room cleared out leaving Ron and Harry. "Hey Ron, help me upstairs so I can get out of these ragged clothes, please."  
  
"Sure Harry, let's get you up. Easy now."  
  
Harry winced in pain, holding his side. "Blimey, that hurts. Let's go." It seemed to take forever to get up to Ron's room because Harry would stop after every couple of steps and wait for the pain to go away. Finally, they made it up to the room. Coincidentally, that was about when the pain blocking potion decided to kick in. "Well, that just figures, doesn't it?" Ron said.  
  
"Yeah, if I didn't have bad luck…" Harry said, not bothering to finish the old line. He fished a clean and unbloodied set of clothes from his trunk and headed to the shower. "Don't take too long, Harry, mum will have dinner ready in short order."  
  
"I'll just be a few minutes," he replied and shut the door behind him.  
  
Ron sat down on his bed and looked at the ruined shirt on the floor beside him. He thought back to how he believed Harry dead when he first saw him. He rubbed an eye again. "Harry," he said to the trunk and the players of the Cannons, "if he ever touches you, if he ever comes near you again, I swear that I will kill him." He sat on the bed and looked at the players flying around until the water turned off and Harry stepped back into the room. "Come on Ron, I smell dinner. What's the matter?" Harry added the second part after he saw a very odd look in his best friend's eye.  
  
"Nothing Harry. I'm fine. Let's go get some dinner."  
  
Dinner was good and filling. Much better than the scraps of burnt bacon and leftover crusty meatloaf left him by the Dursleys in his first week home. Much better. After a few more potions administered by Mrs. Weasley, one of which tasted remarkably like buttered corn, Harry and the rest of the kids went off to bed.  
  
The boys were greeted by a number of Hedwig's hoots as they entered the room. She (is Hedwig a she?? Is it ever said?? Anyway..) fluttered onto Harry's arm and gave his ear a loving nibble. As she (she's a she now, in this author's opinion) flew away, Harry got a whiff of mouse breath. Harry climbed into his pajamas and then climbed into bed, already feeling quite a bit better.  
  
"Goodnight Ron. See you in the morning."  
  
"G'night Harry," Ron said as he was stepping into his own pajamas. "Sleep tight." and to himself he added, "You're safe here." 


	3. Streaking Around the House?

After Harry's rather unexpected and quite unorthodox arrival at the Weasley's at the beginning of the summer, things quickly settled down into the normal abnormality at the Burrow. A month had passed already, and as far as Molly could tell, Harry was doing just fine. The bruises were nearly gone and the two ribs had healed with the aid of a little bit of Skele-Mend paste. Harry had also put on about ten pounds and no longer looked like the skeleton on the bottle of Skele-Mend. Mrs. Weasley's cooking could definitely add a bit of weight to a boy.  
  
So far neither she nor Arthur had heard a thing from the horrid Dursleys and hopefully it would stay that way. Since she was not a very mean-spirited person, Molly found it hard to wish evil things upon most people, but she could very easily wish them on Vernon. She wasn't sure if he'd even qualify as a person. She heard a racket flying down the steps and smiled as she saw it was Ron and Harry. "Help yourselves to some muffins, boys. They're delicious."  
  
Molly wasn't kidding. Harry picked one up and could already taste the blueberry before it was in his mouth. He and Ron were quickly wolfing them down. "You two aren't going to burn the house down while I'm gone today, are you?" Molly asked for the twentieth time since yesterday. She *almost* trusted Ron, *almost*.  
  
"Yes, mum, we'll be just fine. I promise. We won't burn it down."  
  
"Yeah mum, Ronnikins couldn't start a fire if he wanted to," Fred said as the twins walked in the kitchen and after grabbing a few muffins, headed out the back door.  
  
"I'll show you a fire, you prat!" Ron spat as he scrambled out of his chair. He might have made it to the two if Harry hadn't grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pulled him back down.  
  
"Ronald, you know that if you didn't react to them, they'd stop." his mother said.  
  
"Um… what planet are you from? They most certainly would not," he responded, wincing as she called him 'Ronald.'  
  
"Are you two sure you don't want to come with me and Ginny to Dover today? We most likely won't be more than a few hours."  
  
"No, we'll be fine here," Harry and Ron said almost simultaneously. Neither of them wanted to go along on a journey to look at new magicked upholstery fabrics (even if they were guaranteed to repel every known stain and some that aren't known yet), much less in *Dover*.  
  
"Suit yourselves then. Ginny!! Come on dear, it's time to go. Remember Ronald, don't burn the house down, right?"  
  
"Mu-uuum! Don't worry. Go already." Ron was shaking his head and Harry  
  
was grinning like the Cheshire cat as Ginny came bounding down the steps and joined her mother at the fireplace.  
  
Molly looked as if she was going to say more, but decided against it and stepped into the fireplace after Ginny.  
  
"Oh!! She drives me absolutely nutters sometimes, Harry."  
  
"But Ron-ald," Harry giggled, "she only does it because she cares."  
  
"Arggg!" Ron grinned out, chucking the remains of a muffin at Harry.  
  
"So Ron, wha do you wan 'o do to'ay?" Harry asked with his mouth absolutely crammed with muffiny goodness.  
  
"Well, we could go up to the field and fly our brooms."  
  
"We did that yesterday, and the day before, and, I believe, yes, the day before that. How about something else. What have you never done?"  
  
"I've never put my head in a lion's mouth, or climbed a mountain, streaked around the house, or seen the Cannons win a game."  
  
Harry smacked his palm against his forehead after that. "Ron, I meant around here. Have you ever been into town?"  
  
"Into town?"  
  
"Yes Ron, that mass of building that have congregated about two miles down the road from your house."  
  
"Oh, well, no, actually I haven't."  
  
"Well, then why don't we go into town for the afternoon? You can see how all the weird Muggles do things. We'll even stop and get a hamburger for lunch."  
  
"What's a handburger?"  
  
"Oh, yeah, we definitely need to go to the city," Harry said, and then quickly started rethinking the brilliance of his idea as in his mind's eye he saw Ron pointing at each and every single thing on the streets…  
  
"Okay, we'll go, now what's a handburger?"  
  
"Get changed Ron, I'll show you when we get there."  
  
..A short while later after Harry and Ron get dressed and walk the two miles into town…  
  
"…And what's that over there?"  
  
"That is a mail box. Muggles put letters in it."  
  
"Do the owls like that, being stuck in a box and all?"  
  
"Ron, Muggles don't use owls, remember? They use postmen."  
  
"Oh, right, right. What's that over there? What do all those X's mean on that book store?"  
  
"Umm, that means that, um, that the store closes extra, extra, extra early. That's why the shades are already drawn." Harry nearly laughed out loud as he got the second part out (it struck the author as pretty funny, too!) and had to turn away to compose himself. "Have the Cannons really never won a game?" Harry asked to change the quickly change the subject. What a bookstore like that was for was one of the few things that he had learned from Dudley. He was going to mentally thank the fat boy, when he remembered the rest of the conversation in which the meaning had been learned. Instead, he shivered. ICK.  
  
As they walked through town on the beautiful early afternoon, Ron was in complete amazement at the sight of traffic lights, a hot dog vendor, and a gas station.  
  
"This is bloody awesome Harry!  
  
"It all seems so, well, *normal*, doesn't it, Ron?" Ron nodded in agreement and his stomach also gave its assent.  
  
"I think that's it's about time that I showed you what a hamburger is."  
  
"Can we do it after we eat, I'm starving now."  
  
"Come on, you eat a hamburger, we can get one in that shop up there."  
  
"Harry, we don't have any Muggle money, so how are we going to pay for it?"  
  
"When we last went to Hogsmead, I changed a bit of coins for some pounds, just in case I had to make a hasty exit from the Dursleys. Good foresight, huh?"  
  
"You'd make Hermione proud, you would. Let's go get a handburger."  
  
"Hamburger."  
  
"Right."  
  
The boys crossed one final street and made their way into a small establishment known by the green hanging sign as Finnigan's Grill. "Do you think we'll see.."  
  
"No, Seamus won't be here," Harry finished for him.  
  
They walked in and found the establishment to be nearly empty. There was a big bunch of televisions on one wall, and nearly each table had a smaller set on it. There were pictures of rugby and football players all over the walls, as well as the occasional cricket and lacrosse sticks. Yes, they had wandered into a sports bar.  
  
"No quiddich, I see, but are those telly-visions?"  
  
"Yes they are." Harry answered as a host took them to their table. In the middle was a remote control, and Harry spoke again. "Now I'll show you the greatest Muggle invention of all, cable." Ron immediately looked to the rafters for ropes. "No, Ron, pointing to the tv, right here."  
  
Harry picked up the remote and felt the surge of power that shoots through all males when they possess this most holiest of all objects (one remote to rule them all, one remote to find them, one remote to sit them on the couch and to the television bind them- ha!). Anyway he started flicking through the channels and the waitress walked up. Harry ordered two hamburgers and fries and two cokes. She left, snapping her gum. With great reluctance, Harry gave the remote to Ron. He flipped through the 200 sports channels and stopped on a hockey game.  
  
"What are they…are they floating?"  
  
"No, they're skating on ice."  
  
"Are those their broomsticks?"  
  
"Close, hockey sticks. They hit the puck with them."  
  
Harry spent the next few minutes explaining hockey to the enthralled redhead. Ron was beginning to think it was a little boring until there was a huge fight. Gloves were tossed; it was so much better than a rugby scrum because they had sticks.  
  
A commercial break came on and as they were leaving the arena, the announcer said that the Mighty Ducks were losing 5-0. "What kind of fear inspiring name is 'Mighty Ducks?'" Ron asked. Harry only shook his head as he thought back to his midnight escapades watching television while the Dursleys slept upstairs. Vernon had all the channels, including quite a few from America. ESPN, one of Harry's favorites was. He had fallen in love with hockey for its quiddich-like gracefulness and skill (plus the author loves it too- go Redwings!).  
  
The food arrived, the gum snapping waitress left and Ron wasn't exactly sure how to go about eating the hamburger. He reached for a fork when he saw Harry pick it up and dig in.  
  
The next five minutes were filled with grotesque sounds of Ron's eating pleasure. Mrs. Weasley was into healthy meals, so a greasy hamburger had never disgraced her plates. Ron was loving every bite. He also greatly enjoyed the soda, once again, never in the Weasley residence.  
  
They finished their meals and Harry paid the check and they headed back to the Burrow, Ron intent on getting his mum to make a 'handburger' tonight.  
  
  
  
That was fun to write. I hope you enjoyed it. I picture Ron like a five year old at Disney World for the first time - in awe of the concrete he walks on. I was watching a hockey game Saturday and decided that it was a bit similar to quiddich, so in the story it goes.  
  
energy  
  
(having way too much fun with Ron's naivete' for his own good) 


	4. Nightmares and Dreamscapes

Needless to say, getting Molly to make a hamburger for dinner was just about impossible. Saying that she was mildly resistant to the idea would be the understatement of the year. So, instead of a greasy masterpiece, she created a meal that would have made Martha Stewart envious.  
  
After the meal, the boys were stuffed to the gills. There were only a few games of Exploding Snap played this evening before the kids went off to bed. Things were abnormally quiet in the Burrow this evening. There were no late night pranks like anchovy toothpaste or anything of the sort since Fred and George were staying over at Lee Jordan's tonight.  
  
The two changed into their pajamas and climbed into bed. They spent a little while recounting the adventures of the day. Ron was still a little puzzled about the extra-early closing bookstore. "Who buys books in the middle of the night, anyway?"  
  
"I have no idea Ron." Harry was thankful that the room was dark so Ron couldn't see him screw up his lips to hold back the giggles.  
  
They chatted for another ten minutes or so until the sandman came in and took Ron away to Nod. Ron always has strange and startlingly vivid dreams and he remembers about one of five clearly. His most recent dream was him playing Chaser for Ravenclaw (Ravenclaw?) and having to throw Dumbledore through the goals and past the Hufflepuff Keeper, Margaret Thatcher. Dumbledore was constantly talking about the upcoming class picnic in the Forbidden Forest. Weird.  
  
This time, the dream was much darker and Ron remembered very little of it. It started off with Ron in a field of indigo grasses. He was searching for someone. Two someones, actually. He wasn't sure who, just that it was imperative that he find them before it was too late. He looked all over the English countryside, traveling a hundred miles in a single step. He was looking everywhere. Up trees, in caves, abandoned houses, everywhere. He was having no luck. He was walking up to an age-old mansion that had seen better days during the Industrial Revolution. They were in there.  
  
The dream switched. Dumbledore was sitting in the Gryffindor's common room and Ron was sitting across from him. "He will burn, Ron, he will burn. You mustn't be afraid. You must watch over young master Potter." Dumbledore waved a hand toward the fire and it erupted. "Beware the flames, master Weasley."  
  
Before Ron could ask who would burn and what flames to beware, Dumbledore was gone. Ron awoke and was sitting in bed straight as a rail. He looked over at Harry and saw that he was sleeping peacefully. A small grin was making its way across his face while he slept. "At least one of us will have a good night sleep tonight," he said to the moon as he settled back down. He waited quite awhile for sleep to take him again.  
  
Harry loved to watch the redhead fall asleep. Ron would slowly relax, starting with his legs and eventually his arms and face. He'd lay peaceful for a short while, then, like a runner off at the starter's gun, he'd start dreaming. He would begin moving like a dervish, throwing blankets around the bed. Harry could watch that every night and not get tired of it. He laid back and soon sleep came for him too.  
  
His dreams were never as vivid as Ron's, nor as funny as the quiddich dream, but Harry tended to remember more of them. When he awoke an hour or so later, he remembered quite a bit.  
  
He remembered being quite warm, like winter coat in the Bahamas warm. He was in some field and it was pretty dark. There was a sliver of moon that occasionally peaked out from the heavy clouds. Someone was crying in the distance. A small child ran up to him and pulled on his arm and said "they have your beloved." "Great, now I have to go to bottom of that bloody lake again. He strode off, but it wasn't to the lake. Lightning flashed across the sky, and in the short illumination, Harry was almost sure he saw tombstones around him. A cemetery. How nice. An explosion ripped the silence a few miles off. Harry sat up in bed, suddenly wide awake.  
  
"Odd." He was going to ponder it more, but sleep came again very quickly. This time his dreams were much lighter. He, Ron, Hermione, and Neville were at a petting zoo and there was Dudley in the pig pen, eating garbage from the bin. His curly tail was pointing up and the four children laughed at him. In his sleep, a smile was spreading across his face.  
  
Now we travel about 50 miles north of the Burrow, to the bedroom of one Hermione Granger.  
  
She was standing in the middle of absolutely nothing. No up, no down, nothing anywhere. She walked around the nothing and saw, not surprisingly, nothing. A voice boomed from nowhere "He must make his choice. It is Law." Hermione jumped out of her skin at the sound of it. She looked across the nothing and saw a figure slowly come into view as lights grew brighter on him. It was Ron. He was standing with his hands outstretched and something in each of them.  
  
"Ron!!!" she screamed. He paid no heed. The lights got brighter and she saw that in one hand he held a little globe of fire and in the other, a black skull. He was looking back and forth at the two of them as though the choice was nearly impossible.  
  
"Ron!!!" she screamed again. He looked at her this time and then suddenly the lights went out again. She looked around and saw that the nothing had become a field. Harry was flying above it on his broom. She watched him for a bit. Suddenly, he fell. She fumbled for her wand to try to help him, but she was too slow. As he hit, she woke up, giving a short yelp.  
  
She got up, figuring that it would be for the best if she didn't go back to sleep for a while. She wandered downstairs and fixed herself a mug of cocoa and settled into a cushy chair and watched the clouds roll by the moon through the living room window.  
  
The three of them weren't the only ones to have dreams such as that that evening. All across England, all the Gryffindors were visited. Seamus, Colin, Neville, Dean, Lee, all of them. All the dreams were dark, and all seemed vitally important, but none of them could be sure as to exactly why. 


	5. Darkness in the Home

Perfection. It just seemed to happen around her. Perfect family. Perfect grades. Perfect life. Perfect friends. Well, maybe Ron and Harry weren't perfect, but they were pretty bloody close. She could still remember the exact way things were when her ivory tower started cracking all around her.  
  
She had spent the morning and early afternoon in one of Brighton's beautiful parks reading and enjoying a picnic lunch. About fifty pages through her book, An Authoritative Narrative of Meddi-evil Witch-Craft, when she decided that it was time for lunch. She pulled out her egg salad sandwich and can of soda and watched a man and his son playing Frisbee with their dog. Finished with her lunch, Hermione gathered her garbage and deposited them in an appropriate receptacle (keep Brighton Bright! It screamed in red and blue paint). She picked her book up and began the short walk back to her house.  
  
She returned home at about 2:30 or so in the afternoon to an empty house. Her parent's dental office wouldn't be closed for a while yet, so Hermione walked up the winding staircase to her bedroom and turned on her radio, nearly as an afterthought. It was almost funny how she got used to not having things like a radio at school. She settled down at her desk and wrote a letter to Harry and Ron since she'd not seen them in almost two months and not heard from them in almost a week. She still giggled when she thought of Harry's tale of a 'handburger.' The letter finished, she sent it off and wandered downstairs for a little snack.  
  
Hermione had just put the ham back in the refrigerator when the telephone rang. It was Meredith, a friend from down the road and she invited Hermione to a late matinee movie. Sure thing. Eating her sandwich Ron-style (in 4.3 seconds) she left her parents a note and then headed out the door.  
  
The movie was good. However, about halfway through it, she suddenly had a shiver, as if something bad was about to happen. She attributed it to the fact that the handsome hero on screen was about to walk into a trap and forgot about it. She and Meredith left the movies and returned home. As Hermione started her short walk home, she had another bad feeling. She needed to be home *now*. She ran the few remaining blocks and flew into her house at top speed.  
  
At first, everything looked normal. She stepped into the kitchen, expecting to find her mum starting dinner. Instead she found no one. She called out 'mum?' and walked into the sitting room. Silence was the only thing she found. "There were two cars in the driveway, so they are home," she thought.  
  
Hermione headed upstairs, figuring that maybe they were in their room. When she got to the landing at the top of the stairs and had taken a few steps further, she saw her mum sitting in a chair in their room. "Mum! I was worr---" she stopped in mid word as she stepped into the room. Her mum was sitting in her favorite chair, and her father on the bed. Around them were green flowing lights, similar looking to intangible snakes. "Mum?.." she said faintly. Both parent's eyes were completely blank, devoid of color. Their chests were still rising and falling, so they weren't dead, Hermione thought quickly. She looked between the two of them, and time seemed to stand still.  
  
Suddenly, her mum's face turned toward her and a very different voice than she remembered her having that morning spoke to her. "Dear, some friends of yours stopped by a little while ago. They said to give you this." Her mum held out a hand and a skull and serpent appeared in it. "They'll be back soon, why don't you join us?"  
  
She was rooted to that spot, looking at the skull, unable to divert her gaze. Her father turned to face her, "Have a seat, sweetie," he said, patting the bed beside him.  
  
Finally, a voice spoke in the back of her head. It is the voice that we all have, that little primordial voice that only speaks up when our very survival is on the line; the lizard voice as it's been called by some. "You have to go right *now*," it spoke. Those six words thawed her mind and she whirled into movement. She ran into her room and grabbed her wand and her robe, for no reason that she could figure at the time.  
  
Darkness was starting to fall as she reached the bottom of the staircase. She gave one final glance backward, up the stairs, and fled out into the night.  
  
"Away," the lizard voice spoke. She listened. Hermione walked far into the night. The moon had long since risen when she was suddenly overcome by tears. She rested on a culvert and sobbed for a bit. 'What happened to my parents?' 'That was the Dark Mark,' and other thoughts flooded her mind. "Further." the lizard voice spoke again. Hermione wiped her eyes and jogged on.  
  
She went for another two hours before exhaustion overtook her. Looking up at the stars and moon, she reckoned that it was approximately 1 am. Hermione cried more, sitting on a park bench and before she knew it, she had fallen asleep. Her sleep was deep and dreamless, as it normally was. She was awoken to a squeaking sound and a small hand gently shaking her. 


	6. A Flurry of Owls and Many Pictures

Darkness. Peace. Tranquility. Squeak-a squeak-a squeak-a. Huh? Squeak-a squeak-a. What the?  
  
"Hermione? Hermione, is that you?"  
  
Hermione was slowly awakening to a hand shaking her shoulder and a small voice calling her name. *Why is a boy in my room?* she thought sluggishly. *Why is my bed so bloody hard?*  
  
"Hermione, it is you, isn't it?" more shaking accompanies this last comment.  
  
Hermione slowly opens her eyes and as the world swims into focus, she sees a small mousy-haired boy that she immediately recognizes as Colin Creevey.  
  
"Colin, why are you in my room?" she asked him, not quite coherent yet.  
  
"Um, Hermione, I'm um, not in your room. You're on a park bench."  
  
"What? Why would I be--" she stopped in mid-thought as the events of last night flooded back into her. Surprisingly, sadness was gone. She apparently went through the supply of that last night. "Where am I, Colin?"  
  
"You're in Newhaven."  
  
"Why are you here?" she was slowly getting her wits about her, but after seeing her mum give her the Dark Mark and all the night before, it was taking a bit longer than normal.  
  
"Well, actually I live around here. Just a few blocks up the road."  
  
Hermione had finally gotten herself together. She took in the situation at hand. Here was Colin Creevey pulling a wagon of, are those milk bottles? It appeared to be about 7 a.m. or so because the sun was just coming up over the horizon.  
  
"Are, you, are you okay, Hermione? You don't look so good."  
  
"Well, Colin, I had a very bad night." She sort of twitched a bit after saying that. "Why are you pulling a wagon of milk bottles, if I may ask?"  
  
"My father is a milkman, and he's taken ill, so I'm helping him out. Dennis did it yesterday, so today is my turn. You can come home with me if you want, my mum will have breakfast ready soon and I only have a few more houses to go."  
  
"Sure Colin, I'd like that. Let's go." Hermione was willing to go anywhere, and breakfast definitely sounded good. She stretched and the two took off up the street. Along the way, she gave Colin a recount of the events of the last evening. Colin shivered when she spoke about the green snakes and the Dark Mark.  
  
"Was ah, You-Know-Who in your house?" he asked with fear and maybe a bit of awe.  
  
"Honestly I don't know. Someone surely was. Probably Death Eaters." Colin shivered again when she spoke of them. "They did something to my parents, they *turned* them or something." Colin dropped off the last of the milk bottles and picked up the empties and they headed to his home.  
  
The house looked quite similar to her own. This brought a quick tear, but she brushed it off.  
  
"Come on in. Mmm, pancakes," Colin said as he opened the back door and the aroma of pancakes wafted out the door.  
  
"Good morning, mum," he said as he stepped into the kitchen. "Oh, mum, this is Hermione Granger, a friend from school."  
  
Hermione stepped into view and took in the kitchen. This was like something out of Little House on the Prairie. The house oozed rustic. The clock over the stove was made from a slice of tree. The table appeared to be hewn by hand, a not quite professional hand, but not a shabby hand. A younger boy, obviously Dennis, was sitting at the table in his pajama bottoms eating his pancakes. Mrs. Creevey was a very attractive woman, her long red hair was pulled back in a large braid. She was quite tall, about two heads taller than Hermione and three over Colin..  
  
"Hello dear. Granger, did you say her name was Colin?"  
  
"Yes, mum."  
  
"Oh, dear. How are you?"  
  
"I'm fine, I guess. My parents, on the other hand.."  
  
"Yes, I've already heard. 'Twas in the Prophet this morning." Mrs. Creevey handed Hermione the Daily Prophet and let her read the article. "Death Eaters Attack Muggle Household in Brighton" the headline read. The inside story described the condition of her parents as 'deranged and delusional' and said that they had been taken to St. Mungo's for treatment.  
  
"How many pancakes, dear? And you, Colin?  
  
Hermione took three and Colin took four, Dennis was halfway through his three.  
  
"Hermione, you look a bit peaked. Would you want to lay down for a while?" Mrs. Creevey asked her once breakfast was over.  
  
"Yes, actually that sounds nice. Anything but a park bench sounds nice."  
  
"Colin, show her up to your room so she can sleep a spell longer."  
  
"Sure, mum," Colin said, gulping almost imperceptibly as Dennis smiled a big smile at him.  
  
He lead her up the stairs and opened the door with 'Colin's Room, Keep Out' written across it. He lead her in and when she walked through the threshold she was sure she saw Harry. Then she looked a bit to the right and there was Harry again. To the left, Harry. Further left, you guessed it, Harry. Harry with his hand up in front of his face, Harry from behind, a close up of Harry's face, and perhaps the funniest (and right in the middle of them all) Harry in a gold towel with dripping water down his face scowling at Colin.  
  
Hermione stifled a laugh, instead she said, "A little obsessive, are we?"  
  
"Um, no, well, maybe a bit." Colin said, his face and ears glowing a radiant red.  
  
A quick bolt of realization struck her. She looked at the bed and sat down. She took her shoes off and laid back. "Aah, comfort."  
  
"I'll see you in a while, Hermione," Colin said as he shut the door behind him. He gulped as the door shut.  
  
As he came back down the steps, his mum was writing a letter to someone. "Mum, who're you writing to?"  
  
"I am letting your headmaster know that Hermione is okay. I figured that he'd be relieved to know."  
  
"You're probably right. He would." Colin sat down and ate a slightly cold pancake.  
  
"Hey Colin, did she like your room?" Dennis asked, giggling severely.  
  
"Hush, you," Mrs. Creevey said to Dennis, smiling a little herself, after she saw Colin's face go scarlet.  
  
I About Two Hours Pass/I  
  
Hermione woke at about 9. She felt completely refreshed. She walked downstairs and found the three Creeveys in the living room watching a bit of television. All around the room were more of Colin's snapshots, most of them quite good. If he washed out as a wizard, he could easily become a photographer.  
  
"Hey Colin, could I borrow a few sheets of parchment and then use your owl for a bit?"  
  
"Sure. The parchment and ink is in here," said Dennis, jumping up from the floor and taking her hand, leading her to the next room. "When you're finished, I'll get Thierry."  
  
"Okay, thanks, Dennis," Hermione replied, a little surprised.  
  
When Dennis returned to the room, Colin looked at him with another big Creevey smile and said, "Maybe I should show her *your* room, huh, Dennis?" the younger Creevey went a shade of red a bit pinker than his older brother.  
  
A few minutes later she emerged from the smaller room and called out to Dennis that she was finished. Dennis once again jumped to attention and got her to the back door and took her out to the small roost they'd built.  
  
"Thierry, come here," Dennis called. The purlply-brown owl jumped over and snatched the treat that was offered. Dennis tied her parchment on and asked her where it was heading.  
  
"To the Weasleys and Harry, at the Burrow."  
  
"Can you find that, Thierry?" Dennis received an affirmative hoot and the owl took skyward.  
  
They were just getting up to have lunch when a large red bird flew by the front window and flew around the house. It stopped by the back door and pecked it with its large beak. It appeared to be on fire, but they weren't quite sure. Mrs. Creevey went and opened the door and the bird dropped a letter in her hand and flew off.  
  
"What kind of bird was that?" asked Colin.  
  
"That was a phoenix," his mother answered. She opened the letter. "It's from your Headmaster, Dumbledore." she continued reading the letter. "He is glad to hear that you're in good health, Hermione. He is also quite sorry for your loss. He says that so far, the doctors don't know what's been done to your parents." She set the letter aside and started getting ready to cook lunch.  
  
"Colin, get the pans from the cabinet. Dennis, go wake your da', tell him we're eating soon and tell him I said he's not that sick. Hermione, would you mind getting the bacon from the icebox?"  
  
The three children split up like players from a huddle. A lunch of BLT's followed, with soup for Mr. Creevey. They had just finished when there was another scratch at the door. Thierry had returned, and was accompanied by a large snowy owl.  
  
"That's Hedwig!" Hermione nearly shouted. She ran to let the owl in and took the letter from her leg. Hedwig hopped onto the roost with Thierry.  
  
"Ron and Harry are coming here as soon as they can, Ron says within a few hours." Hermione told the gathered audience.  
  
Dennis gave Colin a quick smirk and saw his eyes nearly pop out of his head.  
  
"Harry's coming - Harry's coming here?" Colin stammered.  
  
"Yes, that's what she said," Dennis said gleefully. "You might want to put on fresh underwear," he whispered to his brother.  
  
"Harry Potter is coming to my house. Oh dear." Colin went from a shade of red to a shade of white. 


	7. It's Not Always Easy to Dodge Cows

Oh, before I start, I was looking for info on the next movie, and I found that they have cast a boy named Hugh Mitchell as my favorite character, Colin. If ANYONE can find me a picture of this child, one hundred points to you. Just drop the URL in a review. I've already checked IMDb and found nothing. I just have to see if they can read my mind as well as they did with Harry.  
  
  
  
"Harry Potter is coming to my house? Oh dear." Colin said as he turned as pale as the tablecloth.  
  
"How are they getting here?" Dennis asked, "we don't have a fireplace."  
  
"They can't take Ron's father's car, it is still in the Forbidden Forest somewhere," Hermione replied.  
  
"Surely they aren't going to fly here, on broomsticks, in the middle of the afternoon, are they?" Colin asked, reading Hermione's mind.  
  
"Yes, that's probably exactly how they'll get here," she answered…..  
  
Meanwhile, Back at the Burrow  
  
"Ron, wake up Ron!" a high pitched voice was very close to his ear. "Wake up. You got a letter from someone."  
  
"Ginny, how many times have I told you not to wake me this early in the morning?"  
  
Looking out the window to confirm her next statement, Ginny lashes out, "Ron, it is nearly noon, which is nowhere near morning. So get up and get the owl. It won't let me take the letter off."  
  
Ron opens one eye and glances out the window. So there is sun. That doesn't mean it's noon. A glance at the clock beside his bed does confirm the fact that it is 11:53 am. "Blimey," he says, yawning fiercely. Harry is deeply buried in the bed sheets. Only his hair and one elbow can be seen. "Don't get up Harry, I'll handle this," he says to the sleeping form that might be a person and was answered with a snore.  
  
"Mum told me to wake you up at noon anyway before she left, so you are only missing out on a few minutes of sleep anyway."  
  
"Where'd she go?"  
  
"She went into London for some things. She didn't say exactly what. Maybe a few going to school surprises."  
  
"Hopefully so," Ron said following her down the stairs and stealthily pulling the pajama wedge from his posterior. "Where's the owl at then?"  
  
"He's out back on the porch." Ginny went one way and Ron went out to the porch to collect his letter. The oddly colored owl hopped over to him and offered him his leg. Ron untied the parchment and instantly knew it was from Hermione from the extremely perfect script.  
  
"Holy Shit!" he exclaimed from the back yard. The owl hopped back over near Hedwig and watched as he ran back inside. "Ginny, where's the Daily Prophet?"  
  
"Um, I think it's on the kitchen table."  
  
Ron ran into the kitchen and slid past the table. Silently cursing his socks, he hopped over to the Prophet and picked it up. He unrolled the paper and started scanning the headlines. "Oh Bloody hell!" Ron read for a few minutes and then ran back up the stairs to Harry at top speed, nearly falling once on account of his broomstick laying on the steps.  
  
"Harry, wake up! wake up! wake up!" Ron was talking nearly inhumanly fast. Harry rolled over and gave an incommunicative snurfle and rolled back over.  
  
"This is important Harry, *wake up*!" Ron proceeded to begin ripping sheets and blankets away from Harry. The final one he pulled happened to be thoroughly wound around Harry, so the big pull took both the blanket and Harry off the bed. With a loud crash Harry hit the floor.  
  
A hand was reaching for the bed from the floor. Finding that, the hand meandered to the table. Finding a pair of glasses, the hand picked them up and took them back down. A head popped up a few seconds later. Tousle headed and tired-eyed, Harry looked at Ron. "If I took your half of the covers, just say something next time, Ron. I'll move."  
  
"Sorry Harry, but this is important." the next few sentences was Ron giving an account of Hermione's previous evening and her letter, but with his excitement Ron was just slurring all the words together and making everything unintelligible.  
  
"Ron, deep breath." Harry had seen Ron like this before, mostly during quiddich matches, so that was the first thing he thought of.  
  
"Right. Harry, Hermione - her family was - attacked last night. Death Eaters." Ron was getting under control now and the deep breaths and pauses between words ended. "They attacked her parents while she was out at a Muggle movie."  
  
Completely surprised, all Harry could do was look at Ron with his mouth agape. He eventually kick-started his brain and said "Is she okay?"  
  
"Yeah, she's fine. No one knows what the Death Eaters did to her parents yet though."  
  
"Where is she? Is she safe?"  
  
"She says that she's fine. She's at um," Ron checks the letter again to be sure, "Colin Creevey's house."  
  
"At Colin's? Why, he lives in Newhaven. How'd she get all the way there?"  
  
"I don't know Harry. That is where she says she's at." Ron looked out the window for a second, trying to figure out something that just wasn't quite right with Harry's reply. Eureka. "Harry, how do you know where Colin lives?"  
  
"Believe me, Ron, there are few things that I don't know about that boy. I've heard everything from him many times over. Do you want to hear about his scar on his shoulder?"  
  
"Um… No, I don't actually."  
  
"Good. Although the story is actually sort of funny in that I'm- glad-it-didn't-happen-to-me way. Let me see the letter."  
  
"Here you go, and here's the article from the Prophet about it." Harry took both and sat back on the bed and read the article and Hermione's post. Three minutes later he put them down and rummaged in his bag for a piece of parchment of his own.  
  
"What're you doing?" Ron asked, and then figuring it out, got a bottle of ink from the desk.  
  
"Stay there," the letter said among other things like "We're sorry to hear about that" and "Does Dumbledore know?". Ron took the quill after Harry finished and wrote a postscript. "We'll be there as soon as we can, probably in a couple of hours."  
  
They walked downstairs and out into the backyard. "Hey Thierry, come over here," Harry called to the purply-brown owl."  
  
"How did you know…never mind" Ron said as the owl came over to Harry.  
  
"Like I said, there isn't much I don't know about him," Harry replied smiling a bit as he gave the owl a snack. " 'mere Hedwig," he called. The snowy owl came over and stuck her leg out. Harry quickly tied the message and said, "Take this to Hermione. Just follow Thierry." With that, the two owls went skyward and started their journey.  
  
"How far is Newhaven, Harry?"  
  
"Oh, about 200 miles from here."  
  
"Um, you aren't planning on walking are you? 'Cuz that is quite a way."  
  
"Of course not. We'll fly."  
  
Ginny had stepped outside and overheard the last part. "Where are you flying to?"  
  
"We're flying there?" Ron asked.  
  
"We have to, they don't have a fireplace.  
  
"Where are you going?" Ginny pleaded.  
  
"No fireplace? Well what kind of wizards are they, anyway?"  
  
"Only his mum is a wizard. His father's a milkman."  
  
"WHO?" asked Ginny, absolutely dying to know who they're talking about.  
  
"A milkman? That's silly."  
  
"Aarrgg. Who are you talking about? Who was that letter from?"  
  
"Oh, morning Ginny," Harry said, grinning at her. Ginny wasn't positive, but she thought that Harry was having fun with her. "We were talking about Colin."  
  
"Colin Creevey? Why would he send Ron a letter?" a puzzled Ginny asked.  
  
"He didn't. Hermione did." Harry answered.  
  
"What?" Ginny obviously had no idea of what was going on.  
  
"Read the second page of the Prophet, Ginny, and you'll understand what we're talking about. Come on Ron, you need a shower worse than I do. You first."  
  
"Right. Are we really flying there?"  
  
"Yes we are, unless you want to walk it. We can stick to the fields and skim the rivers if we need to. We'll be fine," Harry said, trying to convince himself also. "Besides, it's Hermione. We *have* to go."  
  
Ron heads upstairs to shower and Ginny has just finished skimming the Prophet article. "That's horrible. She's okay, right?"  
  
"Right. As far as I know, she is at Colin's and she is fine."  
  
"You know, you really shouldn't fly there on broomstick. That is just asking for trouble."  
  
"Well, we don't really have any other choice. Like I said, we have to go."  
  
"I'll make you boys a lunch. It is a ways away. Tell Hermione that I'm sorry."  
  
"Thanks, Ginny, I will," Harry said as he walked upstairs to prepare for his quick shower. For the first time all sorts of questions swarmed his mind about Hermione. How was she taking all this? She seemed composed in her letter, but he wasn't sure. "Oh well, we'll find out in a while, I guess," he said to no one but the poltergeist who was turning the hot water off and on for Ron's shower.  
  
  
  
Back at the Creevey's  
  
"Hermione seems to be doing okay, huh Colin?" Dennis asked his brother while Hermione had gotten up to use the ladies room.  
  
"She seems okay. She said that she cried all last night and she was over that."  
  
"I do hope they can help her parents," Dennis said to no one in general.  
  
"They will. The wizards at St. Mungo's will do everything they can.  
  
Hermione walked back into the room followed seconds later by Mrs. Creevey. "Do Harry and Ron like hamburgers for dinner, Hermione? Colin?"  
  
Hermione thought to the hysterical letter that Harry had sent her after the trip to Ottery and smiled for the first time all day and said "I think that will be fine." She proceeded to tell the story to the boys once Mrs. Creevey went back into the kitchen. Dennis gave her his complete and undivided attention and Colin smirked at his brother. After Hermione was finished they were all rolling around on the floor laughing. Tick tock, said the clock. Time passed at the Creevey's.  
  
Flying low over the English countryside wasn't as easy as one might think. It was amazing how many cows there were. Even though they were a little more difficult than normal to see, thanks to a halfway effective invisibility charm Ginny cast, they still had to dodge livestock. The two stopped about halfway to Newhaven by a small lake to eat the sandwiches that Ginny packed them. Peanut butter and jelly. Not too bad.  
  
"Harry, how much longer do you figure we'll be? I really have to, you know."  
  
Harry shakes his head in the typical disbelief motion. "Ron, if I were you, I'd head over into the trees. We're still about two hours away. Just watch out for poison ivy."  
  
"Gross, Harry. Funny, but gross." Ron headed into the growth of trees and was, shall we say, indisposed for a bit. Harry was sitting by the water's edge, skipping rocks when his vision doubled then trebled. His scar felt like it was full of molten glass. He fell backwards and passed out from the pain.  
  
Ron came out of the woods a minute later and saw Harry laying rather awkwardly in the grass. He came at a run and slid beside Harry. "Harry, wake up!"  
  
"Huh? What the?" Harry came to rather quickly.  
  
"Are you alright?" Ron pleaded.  
  
"Um, I think so. I was skipping stones and then my scar started burning again. I guess I passed out." Harry sat up and was rubbing his forehead while Ron knocked the grass off his back.  
  
"We should probably be going now, I think." Ron said, looking everywhere at once. "I think something is wrong with this place. Do you hear anything?"  
  
Harry hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary before, but now that he was listening, he heard absolutely nothing. "It is way to quiet. We need to go now." With that the two boys jumped on their brooms and hauled ash (ha) southward. 


	8. Quit Drooling, Boys

When we last left our heroes, they had stopped for a quick lunch in a field in southern England. Ron went to answer a call of nature and Harry's scar roared in pain and he passed out. Another hour and change passed and the two of them reached the outskirts of Newhaven. They landed in a field near the road leading into town.  
  
"Now we walk, eh Harry?" Ron said, getting off the broom.  
  
"Yes we do. If I remember correctly, Colin doesn't live that far off the main road, so this shouldn't be more than a twenty minute walk."  
  
Ron and Harry began the trek to Colin's when a thought appeared like a grail-shaped beacon. "Hey Harry, don't you think it might look a bit odd if two boys are walking down the street carrying brooms? I mean, it just wouldn't look right."  
  
"Blimey, you're right. I'm certainly not leaving my Firebolt in a field, so I guess that we'll have to Transfigure them. Ron gulped audibly at this.  
  
"Um, what if I mess it up? Will it still fly?"  
  
"Don't mess it up and we won't have to find out," Harry said as he pulled his wand from under his shirt. His Firebolt became an ordinary walking stick at the utterance of a word and a wave a wand. Ron looked quite hesitant and then attempted to do the same. By a stroke of luck, it worked.  
  
"I'll have to definitely thank Professor McGonagall for that when we get back to school," Ron said. The pair hopped over the fence, or at least Ron tried to.  
  
"Bloody hell! He yelled as he slipped in a meadow muffin and extremely ungracefully dove over the fence. Harry had no problems however, and was busy laughing his head off as Ron examined the bottom of his right shoe. "Those cows, they're so…oh, how it stinks!" Harry continued laughing until Ron threatened to kick him in the arse with his stinky cow shoe. "come on, Harry. Let's walk."  
  
They headed down the road, Harry still sniggering a bit. "Let's see.. What street was it? Ah, Chessory, there it is. Not much further, Ron."  
  
"Good. At least the walk got the flop off my shoes." they walked for another couple of minutes and came upon a two story ranch that looked exactly like what Harry pictured it to look like from Colin's microscopic details. They turned left at the mailbox labeled 'Creevey' and headed up the front walk to the door.  
  
  
  
Inside the house, Colin was busy showing Hermione how to work his camera. He had finished showing her a few of his albums of pictures, most of which were actually quite good. She had seen work by professionals that couldn't hold a candle to these. Dennis was still doting by her side, doing everything he could for her, all the time looking at her with googley eyes.  
  
"This is the lens. If you push that button, it will take a picture (that is about the extent of my own camera knowledge). This advances the film. And-" The doorbell rang, interrupting his explanation. Colin's eyes got big and Hermione said "I bet that's Harry and Ron now."  
  
It seemed as though for Colin time had decided to stand still. Behind that door was his idol. He looked at the door and it seemed like it was a million miles away. He heard his heart beating in his ears. He was here. At *his* house. He was being tapped on the arm. Now he was being punched on the arm.  
  
"I said are you going to get the door or are you going to stand there all day?" Dennis said. "Nevermind, I'll get it. You just hold that carpet down."  
  
"O-okay," was all he could respond. Hermione hid her mouth with her hand, pretending to cover a yawn and walked over to the door with Dennis.  
  
Dennis opened the door and saw that it was indeed the duo and let them in. they immediately surrounded Hermione and gave her big hugs and flooded her with questions.  
  
"Yes. No. Yes. I'm fine. Whoa, whoa. One at a time guys," she responded. Dennis shut the door behind the two and walked back into the conversation.  
  
"Did you two make it here okay? Was it dangerous? Were you seen?" Dennis asked his questions as rapidly as the other two boys did.  
  
"I think we were only seen by a few cows and a bird or three," Ron said. "All in all, it was a fairly boring journey." He was purposely not mentioning the whole scar incident now, he'd let Harry tell her that later.  
  
A few questions and answers later, the initial barrage was over. The four of them all noticed Colin still standing in the center of the room about simultaneously. He hadn't moved since the doorbell rang. Hermione tugged on Harry's arm and gave him a slight nod in Colin's direction. After a second, and a little harder tug, he got the picture.  
  
Harry walked forward and said to the seemingly petrified boy, "Hey Colin, how are you?"  
  
You would have thought that Merlin himself had talked to the boy just then. His eyes lit up and he stepped back into sync with the rest of the world. "I'm fine, thanks. Can I take your, uh, sticks?"  
  
"Sure, but be careful, these aren't any ordinary sticks." Harry pulled his wand back out and waved it over the stick in Colin's hand. When it regained its form as a Firebolt, you would have thought that Colin was holding the most sacred object in the universe (well, maybe he was, considering his near-worship of Harry ;) ) He walked into the other room and set it down, next to his own and Dennis' . Ron was left holding his broom in his outstretched hand. Dennis took it.  
  
"Thanks, Dennis," Ron said, joining the other three for a quick giggle at Colin.  
  
Dennis walked into the other room and set Ron's broom down. He pulled Colin back out; the older boy's eyes were agape. "Come on, it's just a broom, you know."  
  
The brothers rejoined the others and then were joined by Mrs. Creevey. Harry and Ron stood with their mouths wide open when she stepped into the room. To say that she was the most beautiful woman that either of them had ever seen might be a bit of an exaggeration, but she was definitely in the top 10. Long red hair, dark red, not orange-red like Ron's, was the first they saw. An apron was the next thing they saw, splattered in grease. Even that looked good on her.  
  
"Easy boys," Hermione said quickly and quietly. They shut their mouths like rat traps.  
  
"Well, hello, Harry. It's nice to finally see you in the flesh, instead of on paper. And you must be Ron, it's a pleasure to meet you as well," she said to the redhead. "Dinner will be ready in about five minutes, I hope you all like hamburgers (I still want to type 'handburger'). Now go wash up. The washroom is just around the corner. Oh, and Colin, go see if your father is going to grace us with his presence for dinner. If he isn't, tell him he gets gruel again."  
  
"Sure mum." Colin headed up the steps while the other four go and wash.  
  
"Does your mum make good handburgers, Dennis?" Ron asked while he lathered up.  
  
"Oh yes. The best."  
  
"Righteous." they dried their hands and headed back into the kitchen.  
  
Colin came down the stairs. "He said he'll be down in a bit."  
  
"Oh, he is not that sick. That man…"  
  
Dinner was great. Ron was again in hog heaven. To Harry and Hermione's surprise, Ron ate with the grace and dignity that a boy can only have when he is obviously in awe of beauty before him. They finished and had ice cream for dessert. Ron cleared the table of every dish except Hermione's (only because Dennis got it first) and took them to the sink. He was about to wash them when Mrs. Creevey walked over. "I'll get those, dear."  
  
"Oh, sure." Ron was red like a fire engine. It was Harry that saved him further embarrassment.  
  
"Hermione, can me and Ron see you outside for a few minutes?"  
  
"Sure. Coming Ron?"  
  
"Yeah, outside. It sure is warm in here. Let's go outside and cool off."  
  
Harry shut the door behind them. "Did Colin ever tell you that his mum looked like that?" Ron asked, a bit out of breath.  
  
"Actually, no."  
  
"Do you think she's part Veela?"  
  
"Probably not, Ron." Hermione said.  
  
"Anyway, are you okay, Hermione? Really okay?" Harry asked.  
  
"I guess that I am as okay as someone who just lost her parents to a Death Eater attack could be. Why do you ask?"  
  
"Well, you just seem to be fine, but I was just wondering if it was a put on, you know, covering how you're really feeling."  
  
"Exactly how am I supposed to feel anyway? Of course I feel sad, but it's not like they're gone forever. The wizards at St. Mungo's will do everything they can for them. They're not dead, you know," she said to them. "I've already cried a bunch over this. I guess that I've moved on to anger now."  
  
"Anger?" Ron asked.  
  
"Yes, anger. I'm bloody pissed that Voldemort decided to do whatever it was he did to *my* parents. It might sound callous, but crying over it won't bring them back any sooner, will it?" with that, she went back into the house.  
  
"Well, that just went swell, didn't it, Ron?"  
  
"It is a little callous isn't it, a little?"  
  
"Maybe a little. Actually, it's practical. Practical Hermione." The two boys followed back into the house. Harry was pulling Ron past the kitchen into the living room when they heard a round of coughing coming down the steps.  
  
"Ah, Anthony, finally crawling out of bed today? Not bad, it's only 7 pm," Mrs. Creevey called from the kitchen.  
  
"Hush, woman. I am sick and you know it." he had a very thick accent, sort of gruff. It matched his appearance. As pretty as Mrs. Creevey was, her husband wasn't. He wasn't coyote ugly or anything, but average. He looked like a metal worker, not a milkman. He came into the living room wrapped in a blanket and his hair looked like something out of a tornado. "Oh, hello," he said to the three people who weren't there the day before. "Oy, so you're Harry Potter. I've heard all about you." He gave a look to Colin and the boy tried to sink into the couch.  
  
Ron and Hermione introduced themselves and Mr. Creevey said, "A pleasure. And I'm sure that you've all met my wife, Jodee, our resident physician." He said the last part particularly loud so that his wife was sure to hear.  
  
"You never get sick unless I ask you to do something. Last time you got the flu, I had asked you to build a new roost for Thierry. The time before that, I asked-"  
  
"Whatever woman. Where's my dinner?"  
  
"It's in here." Mr. Creevey stumbled into the kitchen.  
  
The five kids were chatting in the living room when Jodee walked back in. "Another owl just arrived. It is about the three of you. Dumbledore says that cars from the Ministry of Magic will come in the morning and take the three of you back to the Weasley's. Um…blah blah…Unless you desire otherwise, Hermione, you can stay with the Weasleys until the start of term in 10 days. That is really it, aside from a gentle chiding for flying on broom all the way here. I would have done the same for my friends as well, though." She winked at Ron and Harry and headed back into the kitchen to argue with her husband some more. It was a good thing that Ron was sitting, or else he might have fallen through the floor.  
  
The children resumed chatting, and googley eyes were passed around the room. Twenty minutes later, Mr. Creevey came out of the kitchen with the Daily Prophet in his hand and headed for the corner bathroom. (does everyone's father do that? YUK) All five knew exactly what was going to happen next.  
  
"We have an extra bathroom upstairs, don't worry." Dennis said. Shortly thereafter, Harry asked about the previously mentioned bathroom.  
  
"Up the stairs and at the end of the hall," Dennis replied.  
  
Harry went up the steps and down the hall. There were two doors both slightly open. Harry chose the one on the left and had pushed it to when he noticed the placard stating that this was Colin's room and he was to keep out. He was about to step back when he noticed a picture of himself on the wall. He stepped in and saw a few more. All the way in the room now, he turned and saw himself everywhere. "Whoa." was all he could say. On a desk was a piece of parchment. He picked it up and saw that he had signed this for Colin two years ago. "Oh, boy." he said to the parchment. He set it back where he found it and looked at himself everywhere.  
  
Many gears started spinning inside Harry's head as he left the room and found the bathroom across the hall. Once he had started talking to Colin, he became a normal person, not a hyperactive obsessive boy. Once Colin calmed down, that was.  
  
Harry came back downstairs and found the others watching television. He sat down on the couch, coincidentally next to Colin, and joined them. Four sitcoms later, Mrs. Creevey came in and announced that it was about bedtime, since the Ministry cars would be there early in the morning. She brought with her three sleeping bags and set them on the floor in front of the group.  
  
"Colin, we'll let Hermione take your room tonight. The rest of you can bunk in Dennis' room. Dennis took a deep breath and was grateful that it wasn't his room that Hermione was sleeping in. "Off you go. I'm sure that you all could use the rest."  
  
They headed up the stairs and the four boys stopped at Dennis' door while Hermione continued a bit further down the hall. "Goodnight, Hermione," all of them said, nearly at the same time, but not quite. "Night, boys," she replied.  
  
Once they had entered Dennis' room, it was quite apparent to Harry and Ron why Dennis was glad Hermione was in his brother's room. There was a large picture of Hermione blown up to poster size on one wall, with a few smaller ones around it.  
  
"Nice decorations. Did your brother take it?" Harry asked.  
  
"Yeah, he did." Dennis replied.  
  
"Dennis has a little crush on her," Colin said. He was going to say more, but a withering gaze from Dennis shut his mouth in a hurry. He knew exactly what Dennis would say if he didn't.  
  
"Not a bad pic." Harry said. "You are really good with your camera."  
  
"Thanks, Harry." Colin was beaming. Colin, Harry, and Ron spread the sleeping bags around the room, two on one side of the bed and one on the other, Ron on the  
  
one-bag side. They chatted in the dark for a few minutes before sleep took them away. 


	9. Sticks and Stones

The Hugh Mitchell bounty is still in effect. Stand by for a heaping spoonful of angst and hurt feelings. Please keep arms and legs inside the car at all times and enjoy your ride.  
  
  
  
Morning did come early. Actually, the smell of bacon rolling up the stairs and under the door came early. The smell crawled to Colin and Harry first. Colin woke up and immediately knew he had to pee now. So, in those first few seconds of coherency, he forgot that he was sleeping next to Harry on the floor and started walking to the door.  
  
"Ah, bloody hell," Harry said as Colin stepped on his hand.  
  
"Sorry Harry, didn't mean to. I just have to go and forgot you were there."  
  
"Huh? Oh, have a good time. Don't shake it too much…" Harry groggily said. He smelled the bacon and looked up at the clock. It was only a quarter past six. Harry heard a flush from down the hall and sat up. It was too early for breakfast. His stomach growled, reminding him that it is never too early for breakfast  
  
Harry pushed his hair back out of his eyes and discovered that he needed to use the head also. He almost ran into Colin in the hallway as they were both busy rubbing eye bogeys. "Sorry Colin, not quite awake yet," Harry stammered.  
  
"No problem. Come on downstairs when you're done. Mum is making breakfast. Harry decided that was a wonderful idea and pulled the bathroom door behind him.  
  
A flush and a wash later, Harry walked past the snoring room containing Ron and Dennis. He considered waking them, but decided to let them lay a bit longer. As he came down and headed into the kitchen, he saw Colin's father putting a hat on and heading out the door followed by his mother.  
  
"He wasn't really sick, he just didn't want to clean the garage," Colin told Harry as he sat down. "Dennis and I think it's rather funny, but mum doesn't agree."  
  
Harry was grinning with him, then got real serious. "Colin, I just want to tell you thank you for bringing Hermione here. Who knows what might have happened if you weren't out. Thanks." Colin looked so awestruck. Harry Potter was thanking him. He could have been knighted by the queen and given the keys to the kingdom and it would have meant nothing compared to the one word Harry uttered.  
  
"You're - you're welcome Harry." Colin couldn't think of anything else to say. He was still trying to get over the fact that Harry, the Boy Who Lived, was thanking *him*, Colin Creevey, the Boy Who Was Nothing.  
  
Harry smiled at him and reached over and ruffled his unusually mousy hair. "Your bacon is getting cold, Colin." Colin smiled back and picked up a piece of pig.  
  
Jodee walked back in the house and picked up a slice of her own. "Your father, he….Oh. That man. It's a good thing I love him." she glanced over at the clock and saw that it said 'they'll be here soon', and told Colin to run upstairs and rouse the others. Up the steps he bounded, still grinning ear to ear.  
  
"Harry, I'd like to thank you. Your being here has changed my son."  
  
"Uh, you're welcome. I didn't know that I did anything."  
  
"You wouldn't. He idolizes you, Harry. Everything is Harry, Harry, Harry. Thank you for giving him your time."  
  
Now it was Harry's turn to be stunned. He had never really considered it before. It started registering in his head yesterday, after he saw the Wall of Potter. Before, he just saw Colin as an annoyance. Today he saw him as a friend. (is that not sappy or what?) Colin came bounding back down the stairs with Dennis and Ron and a few dignified steps behind them, Hermione.  
  
Mrs. Creevey pulled a tray of orange rolls out of the oven and set them on the counter. Her hair fell in front of her eyes, or else she would have seen Ron staring at her as she set the tray down. Maybe she did see it, because her hair also hid her mouth, which just might have been curled in a slight smile. After a delicious breakfast of rolls, bacon and orange juice, the clock changed to 'they're here' and there was a rapping on the front door.  
  
"Ah, that must be the Ministry people." Jodee walked to the door with Ron's eyes following her every step. Hermione pushed his jaw back into the fully upright position. Everyone else saw this and had a laugh at Ron's expense. "Oh, yes, do come in," they heard.  
  
Behind Mrs. Creevey were Ron's mum and dad. They rushed to Hermione and Molly asked if she was okay.  
  
"I'm fine. Really. I'm fine."  
  
"We were extremely worried when we heard the news, dear. No one knew where you were for many hours," Arthur said. "We're glad you're safe."  
  
As if suddenly remembering that her two sons were sitting at the table (technically only Ron her is her son , but Molly isn't a very technical person) she looked at Colin's mum and said, "I hope they weren't too much trouble. They can sure cause a bit of worry to a body."  
  
"No, they were perfect young men." she tucked a stray hair behind her ear and shot Ron an almost imperceptible grin to Ron, who missed it. "They could stay over anytime. And the same for you, Hermione, just hopefully under better circumstances next time."  
  
Colin had jumped up from the table and flown up the steps while the mums were talking and returned with his camera just as Ron's mum said "Well boys, do you have everything?"  
  
"Uh, Harry, could I have one more picture, of the group of you, before you go?"  
  
"Sure, you don't mind, do you guys?"  
  
"Of course not," spoke Hermione. "Sure," chimed Ron, and Dennis shook his head negatively.  
  
The four of them huddled together and as Colin was about to snap the picture, Harry spoke up. "Something isn't right."  
  
Colin looked around. "Is it the light? You might be right. Or, maybe-"  
  
"No, what's wrong is you're holding the camera. Mrs. Creevey, would you mind?" Harry asked.  
  
"Not at all." the five stood together, Colin beaming with pride and standing next to his hero, the others with good smiles as well. *Snap*.  
  
They said their final goodbyes and gathered their brooms. "See you in a week or so, you guys," Colin and Dennis called. Harry and company turned and waved and got into the car.  
  
As they pulled out of the driveway, Molly turned around and looked at the three of them, her boys in particular. "Are you two insane? Flying all that way on broomstick? What were you thinking?" she didn't sound exactly mad, nor disappointed, just surprised at a big lapse in good judgment.  
  
"Well mum, we *had* to get there. The Creeveys didn't have a fireplace, you all were gone, what were we supposed to do? And besides, we were mostly invisible."  
  
"I'm not mad, Ron, how could I be? You showed up for your friend when she needed it. I'm really proud of you two."  
  
"Hermione, if you don't mind, could you tell me what happened? It might help us help your parents and catch those responsible," Arthur said from the front seat.  
  
Hermione related the entire story from the odd feeling in the movie to when Colin woke her on the street. When she was done, Mrs. Weasley was rummaging in her enormous handbag for something. "Well, I just remembered that your Hogwarts letters all came this morning, but I apparently forgot to pick them up. Oh well, they're on the table then." The rest of the ride home was filled with idle chit chat, nothing of vital importance.  
  
"Mum, will you make handburgers for lunch?" Ron asked out of the blue.  
  
"This once, and this once only, Ronald."  
  
*The Miles Roll By*  
  
After a delicious hamburger lunch (even better than Mrs. Creeveys if that is possible) the trio went outside. They were alone; Ginny was out, as were the twins.  
  
"Harry, are you sure that we were at Colin Creevey's house? That wasn't the same boy I remember from Hogwarts. What'd you do, put a spell on him or something?" Ron asked as they lay in the field looking at clouds.  
  
"No, actually, I just talked to him."  
  
"That's it? We could have shut him up three years ago then," Ron said.  
  
"He's a good kid, Ron," Harry snapped back at Ron and looking hurt, he got up.  
  
"What'd I say?" Ron said to Hermione as Harry walked away. "What'd I say?" Ron felt a very strange feeling when Harry reproached him seconds ago. Was that jealousy?  
  
"You obviously just insulted Harry's friend. If you hadn't been so busy staring at his mum, you might have noticed that the two of them actually got to know each other."  
  
"I didn't mean to. I guess I was a bit preoccupied. But I didn't mean anything by it. Honest."  
  
"Well, I'm obviously not the one you upset, so telling me that you didn't mean anything by it gets you nowhere. I might wait a bit if I were you, though, he seemed a bit hot." Hermione got up and walked back toward the house. "I'm getting some lemonade, do you want any?"  
  
"Um, no thanks. I'm fine," Ron said as she stepped inside.  
  
*Now We Are Privy To the Inner Thoughts of Certain Characters*  
  
Ron---  
  
"Dammit, Ronald Weasley, what's wrong with you? You just insulted your best friend. There he goes, out into the field. Smooth Ron, smooth. How was I supposed to know that he and Autograph Hound were friends. Doh! I just did it again. Dammit. Is Hermione right? Was I really staring at his mum that much? Well, she was bewitchingly beautiful. I couldn't help it. Well, some of it. How is she so perfect and Colin so… Stop it! Quit downing him. That's what got Harry mad in the first place. She's right. I should go and apologize to him. I do think I'll wait until he cools off a bit. And to think, I'm a redhead and he has a worse temper than I do. Jodee's a redhead too. Get out of my mind, woman. I'll get some lemonade first then find Harry. That'll give him some time."  
  
Hermione---  
  
"Oh, great job Ron. Just great. Sometimes you are so….stupid. If you could have torn your eyes away from Mrs. Creevey for a minute…Arg. I'm sure he didn't mean anything by it. I hope. Oh my! Is he… no, that's not it. At least I have this piece of drama to deal with for a while. Keep my mind off…I think I'm holding up fine, and I know the boys think I am. Am I? Oh bother, I don't know. Just focus on school, Hermione, you can get through this. I'll take Ron some lemonade anyway."  
  
Harry---  
  
"That little prat. How dare he? Who does he think he is, talking bad about Colin? Like Ron is so perfect. Ha! I think not. 'We could have shut him up three years ago.' Whatever. If he weren't so bloody enthralled by Colin's mum, he could have said more than ten words to Colin in all the time we were there. Sure she's pretty and all, but goodness, Ron. Push your eyeballs back into their sockets. Stupid boy. I'll just climb the tree here and cool down for a while. There's a good branch up there. You'd best stay off a bit Ron, go think about *Jodee* some more. (a vocal 'harrumph' accompanied the last part)  
  
Over the course of the next thirty minutes, Ron felt increasingly sorry for what he said, Harry got progressively madder, and Hermione was busy listening to Ron pine.  
  
"I walked into the field and called out his name, but he didn't answer. I guess he went walking for a while. I didn't mean it, Hermione, I swear it."  
  
"I'm sure you didn't mean to hurt him, Ron, but you did. I'm sure that Harry'll cool off and come back in after a while."  
  
"I feel awful. He's my best friend. I was so thoughtless."  
  
"Yes, you were. You shouldn't say anything you can't take back, you know. You never know who you might hurt."  
  
"I know, I know.."  
  
This went on for a while, Ron blubbering and Hermione listening and chiding him, and Harry in the tree steaming. This went on for the rest of the day. Ron was walking on eggshells, trying to apologize to Harry whenever he saw him. Harry was trying to avoid him like a bad cliché. Finally, Ron stopped Harry in the backyard and attempted to apologize. I say attempted because as he was speaking to Harry, he accidentally insulted Colin again. This was completely unintentional on Ron's part, maybe a Freudian slip or some other subconscious thing, and after he realized what he said, Ron's mouth hung open. Harry's was also wide open, in equal shock. He blinked and pulled back his fist as if to punch Ron, but held it and looked at the redhead. His gaze wavered and he then dropped the fist and simply walked away, shaking his head.  
  
Ron stood there for a full ten-count and then fell to his knees in the grass. Hermione just happened to be watching the short exchange between the boys from the kitchen window. She saw Harry's jaw drop and him pull back his fist threateningly. She watched as Harry turned his back on Ron and walked out the gate and into the street. She hurried out the door.  
  
By the time she reached him, Ron was bawling in the grass. "Ron, what just happened?"  
  
"He hates me, I know he does," Ron said between sobs. "I was trying to apologize to him about before, when, all of a sudden I said something else terrible about him. I didn't even mean to. I wasn't even thinking anything bad about him. It just fell out of my mouth." Ron was still sobbing heavily, with his face buried in his hands.  
  
"I'm sure he doesn't hate you, Ron, he's just really, really mad right now. I'll talk to him when he comes back. What exactly did you say this time?"  
  
"I- I don't really even know. It was all so fast and--" he broke off, unable to continue.  
  
"Oh, Ron."  
  
  
  
Okay, that wasn't what I planned on writing, but it just happened that way. I like it. I hope you enjoy it also. I need to quit thinking of new ideas….. Oh well. 


	10. That About Seals It

Don't forget the bounty. For those of you who don't remember what I'm talking about, it's my obsessive quest to find a picture of the boy cast as Colin, Hugh Mitchell. Find one, and you get 100 points.  
  
  
  
Harry had left the Weasley's backyard and headed out into the street after Ron once again insulted his friend Colin. Ron was attempting to apologize, but it didn't work. Hermione was waiting by the mailbox for him to return. Night was falling and the moon was rising. Dinner had already come and gone. Ron was sitting in a chair in the living room with his knees drawn up to his chest. He hadn't eaten and his eyes were red-rimmed and puffy. Hermione had told Ginny and his parents that the two of them had a fight over something but didn't say exactly what. His mum looked concerned but Arthur said quietly to her, "Don't interfere in this, Molly, let the boys work it out." Though it broke her heart to see her son like that, she agreed with Arthur.  
  
After dinner, Hermione had gone to the street to wait for Harry. There she stood, waiting. The moon had now almost fully risen. Finally, he appeared over the hill.  
  
"Harry, I need to talk to you." Harry still looked a little pissed, but no longer mad.  
  
"Sure, go ahead." He stopped at the mailbox and waited for the questions that he knew were coming.  
  
"Harry, whatever Ron said, he didn't mean to say it. He was trying to apologize. He doesn't even know what it was he said."  
  
"Oh, he conveniently forgot. How quaint. Really, Hermione. Did he put you up to this?"  
  
"No, he didn't put me up to this, and yes, I believe that he honestly doesn't know what it was he said. Why don't you tell me what he said, then."  
  
"Okay, I will. He said quote, 'Honestly, Harry, why would you ever give someone like that any of your time? He's nothing but a needy little prat. You could do so much better, even with Malfoy. Come on Harry, sheesh. He is worthless.' end quote. So don't tell me that he was trying to say he was sorry, because that is the worst apology ever."  
  
"Now why would he say anything like that? That is not like Ron at all."  
  
"Hermione, I have no idea why he would say it. The point is, he said it. End of story. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm tired and am going to bed." He walked past her and in the house and up to the room. He took the pillow from the bed the boys shared and put it on the floor next to the bed. He pulled a blanket over as well and curled up and went to sleep.  
  
Hermione was left standing like a jilted bride. She racked her brain and couldn't fathom any reason for Ron, any at all, to do something like that. In the five or so years she'd known them, they were so close as to be inseparable. Now, after one day, they were an ocean apart. What the bloody hell happened? Why was Ron so jealous of Colin all of a sudden? It wasn't like Harry never talked to anyone else but Ron, he had many friends in Gryffindor. Puzzled, she walked inside also.  
  
Over the next week, Hermione brokered an extremely unstable truce between the two of them. It almost collapsed in the middle of the week, when once again Ron said something disparaging and just like before, couldn't remember even thinking it. It took her two days to get them talking again. Finally, school neared. Tomorrow, actually. It was time for a trip to Diagon Alley. Maybe that would get them back to normal.  
  
They floo-powdered their way into the Leaky Cauldron and stepped threw the amazing brick archway (that was so very cool) into Diagon Alley. The sights and sounds and smells of the place always made any visitor feel alive. The place simply vibrated with energy. Children ran back and forth, strange vendors sold things you'd probably never need but looked and sounded very cool. Cauldrons, wands, owls, books, robes, delectable snacks, you name it, it was here.  
  
The three of them had nearly finished their shopping. The Ministry of Magic was covering Hermione's costs this year out of the Magical Disaster Fund thanks to Arthur's lobbying. They were heading toward a candy store for a snack when they a chillingly familiar voice stopped them from behind.  
  
"Crabbe, what's a shame?"  
  
"Uh, I don't know, Draco."  
  
"When a Mudblood house gets attacked by Death Eaters. Now Goyle, what's a crying shame?"  
  
"Um, I don't know either."  
  
"When one of them isn't home." the creepy drawl was that of non other than everyone's least favorite Slytherin, Draco Malfoy.  
  
"Malfoy, say one more word and it will be your last," Ron said before he turned around.  
  
"Promises, promises. Weasley, I would have thought by now that you'd realized that I care not about your idle threats. Touch me, I dare you." On that, Draco's sidekicks pushed their sleeves up and got ready to brawl.  
  
"Malfoy, there will come a time when you don't have your two boulder headed goons at your side. Then, we'll dance. That I *promise*," Ron said, shaking with anger but not stupid enough to fight two on three.  
  
"Come on Ron, let's go get some coconut cockroach clusters from Scrivvles.. *Come on*." Harry said, dragging the bigger boy away. "Come on, Hermione, my treat."  
  
"Aah, isn't that so cute. The dashing hero comes to his lady's aid. Saved by Potter again, eh, Weasley?"  
  
Ron broke Harry's hold and in the blink of an eye had his wand pulled and cursed the lot of them. Draco wasn't quite sure, but he thought that Ron's eyes lit up green for a split second before he cursed them. Mud began flowing from their ears and they started coughing sandy dirt clods. Vines began growing from their scalps and cheeks. Ron put his wand away and said, "Come on, I want some candy."  
  
Harry and Hermione were in shock. Ron pulled them this time. "Candy is this way."  
  
"Ron, where did that come from?" Hermione asked as they were sipping an Endless Tankard of root beer soda. "I've not seen that curse before."  
  
"Honestly, I don't know. I just pointed and flicked. I really don't remember what I said, it just sort of happened."  
  
"Well, Ron, is was quite bloody awesome. Wait till we tell everyone in Gryffindor about this," Harry said.  
  
"Well, you don't have to tell us," Seamus said as he and Neville walked into Scrivvles. "We saw. It was bloody brilliant, wasn't it, Neville?"  
  
"I'll say. They'll probably be belching dirt for hours." He started laughing.  
  
"Hey guys, grab straws. This thing is supposedly bottomless," Hermione said and the two of them jumped in the fray. Twenty minutes and an account of the attack on Hermione's house later, the five of them were floating in root beer. The tankard was still seemingly bottomless.  
  
"Hermione, we sure are sorry about your mum and da'," Seamus said.  
  
"We sure are. That's awful," chimed in Neville, never sounding so sincere in his life. "If you need anything at all, just say the word."  
  
"We'd like to stay and drown ourselves further, but we've got to get the rest of our stuff and meet my mum in a bit. See you all tomorrow," Seamus piped as he and Neville started for the door.  
  
"Thanks guys. We'll see you on the train tomorrow," Hermione said to the two. "We should finish our shopping as well, we told your mum we'd be back at five and it's quarter after four now," Hermione said looking at her watch.  
  
"We've only got to get our books, right?" Ron asked.  
  
"Uh huh. That's it. Let's go." Flourish and Blotts was just around the corner and it was there that the seemingly peaceful day exploded into tiny pieces.  
  
They had picked out there required books, like The Standard Book of Spells, grade 5, and the rest and had just paid when another familiar voice called to them, only this one was much more welcome, at least to some.  
  
"Hey Harry! Ron, Hermione! How are you guys!" Colin squawked in excitement. He and Dennis walked into the store.  
  
"Hey Colin, what's new?" Harry asked. Hermione was looking with apprehension at Ron, but he seemed perfectly fine.  
  
"Mum is letting us stay here over night in the Leaky Cauldron 'cuz she and dad can't get us here tomorrow," Dennis said almost as excitedly as Colin.  
  
"That's cool. You'll have a good time here. I've stayed before. It's really nice," Harry said.  
  
Ron had turned to one side and looked at a glass bound book on the counter that had caught his attention. The book reflected a very short flash of green as Ron turned back to the group. "Oh my bloody god!" he said, waving his arms in the air, "Here we go again with the Harry Potter adoration show, starring Colin Creevey. Harry, may I kiss your arse, please? Why sure, Colin, go ahead. I swear." Everyone stopped at one time and stared at Ron. Ron was incredulous. Where in the world did that come from?  
  
"Hey Colin, you know what? I'm staying here tonight too," Harry said, breaking the silence. "And you, Ron, can go straight to hell. I'll see you tomorrow Hermione. Tell Mrs. Weasley that I'll pop by and pick up my things shortly."  
  
"Uh, okay," she replied, completely stunned by the last ten seconds. Harry put his arms on the boys backs and steered them to the stacks to pick out their books, leaving Ron and Hermione standing at the counter.  
  
Ron was still completely dumbfounded. "I was going to say 'hello' to him. Honest, Hermione. I was going to say 'hello'. What is wrong with me?" he began choking back sobs again.  
  
"Ron, I-- don't know what to say. Let's go home." They picked up their books and other packages and headed back to the Leaky Cauldron's fireplace.  
  
They stepped back into the Weasley's and went into the kitchen. Hermione poured Ron a glass of milk to calm him down. He was still sniffling when Molly walked in.  
  
"Ron, what's the matter?" she did a quick scan of the room. "And where's Harry?"  
  
"He's staying in Diagon Alley tonight," Hermione said.  
  
"He's what? Why ever for?"  
  
"He um…he's staying-" Hermione started but was interrupted by Ron.  
  
"He's (sniff) staying there because he hates me now (sniff). I was trying to say hello to (hitch) Colin, but what came out was something totally awful. So, (sniff) he walked off with him and his brother."  
  
"This is what happened the other day as well," Hermione said.  
  
"I swear, I didn't mean to say any of it. I was about to say 'hello' when the other stuff fell out." Ron now had regained control of himself.  
  
"Ron, are you okay?" his mum asked him very seriously.  
  
"NO, I'm not. My best friend will now most likely never speak to me again. I don't seem to have control of my own mouth. Who knows what I might do next. So, no, I'm not doing so hot right now. I'm going to go sit outside," he said rather absently.  
  
As the door closed behind him his mother sat down. "Oh Ron, what happened? Hermione, did anything happen to him recently?"  
  
"Not a thing that I know of. I've wracked my brain trying to figure it out. He was fine until we got back from Newhaven. That's when this all started. I don't know."  
  
"Maybe he just needs a spot of rest. Maybe he isn't handling the last week or so as well as you. You're still okay, right?" Molly asked Hermione.  
  
"Yeah, I'm holding it together." Barely, she thought.  
  
"I'm sure Dumbledore will have some information for you when you arrive. Oh, and we might want to go and pick up the rest of your belongings from your house, if you're up to it."  
  
"Sure. We can do that. We might want to wait for someone else to get home for Ron first, though."  
  
"Well thought, my dear. Arthur will be home soon," she said, looking at the clock whose Arthur hand was 'traveling'. Ginny's hand was also 'traveling' and she walked into the kitchen right about then.  
  
"What's the matter with Ron? Why's he sitting outside by himself?" Ginny asked.  
  
"He and Harry had another blow-out a while ago."  
  
"Gosh, you'd think they were married the way they've been fighting recently," she said.  
  
"Will you keep an eye on your brother while we go and pick up Hermione's school things? You father will be home shortly. Just make sure he doesn't do anything stupid."  
  
"Sure, I'll look after him." Molly and Hermione walked into the fireplace and disappeared.  
  
*Back in Diagon Alley, Flourish and Blotts, to be Specific, At the Same Time*  
  
"What was all that about, Harry?" Colin asked. "Why'd Ron say that?"  
  
"Colin, I have no idea. None at all."  
  
"But, he's your friend. Everyone knows that. Why-" Dennis started.  
  
"*Was* my friend. Friends don't talk about other friends like that."  
  
"Ah, here we go, Dennis, book of spells, grade 2, and Colin, 4 for you. Is that everything?" Harry asked, changing the subject.  
  
"Yep, that will do it," Dennis chirped.  
  
"Good, let's get out of here and get me a room and then my stuff and then dinner. How's that sound guys?"  
  
"Sounds good" was the reply from the Creevey brothers. Then Colin added, "But you could just stay with us, the room is huge."  
  
"Plus Colin is afraid of the dark."  
  
"I am not," he said, trying to sound convincing. Seeing that it wasn't working, he added, "okay, maybe a bit."  
  
"Fine. That's settled, let's go drop off this stuff and get mine."  
  
The three of them traveled back to the Cauldron and went up to the Creevey's room. They weren't kidding, it was huge. The bed could likely sleep four with ease. They dropped off their books and quills and all on a corner of the 100 acre bed. The Creevey's things were piled in a corner, with Thierry asleep in his cage.  
  
"All right, now a quick trip to the Burrow and we'll eat. Colin, do you mind helping me?"  
  
"Are you sure that is a good idea? I don't think that Ron likes me much."  
  
"This way it will only take one trip. If he wants to do anything, he'll have to go through me first."  
  
"What if Dennis went instead?"  
  
"Sure. Dennis? Wanna go?"  
  
"Fine with me."  
  
"We'll be back soon, Colin, figure out what we'll have for dinner," Harry said.  
  
"Okay, will do."  
  
They walked out of the room and down the stair and to the fireplace. A puff of floo powder later, they were in the Burrow. Seeing no one, Harry and Dennis walked up the stairs and began gathering Harry's things. Five minutes later they finished and were at the base of the steps, heading for the fireplace.  
  
" Harry, what happened today?" It was Ginny, from the kitchen doorway.  
  
"What happened? Well, ask Ron. If he can remember."  
  
"Harry, please, talk to him."  
  
"No, Ginny, I think that I've heard enough from him for a while. See you tomorrow. Let's go Dennis, dinner's waiting."  
  
"Harry, come on, please." Ginny said achingly.  
  
"The Leaky Cauldron!" Harry shouted and tossed the powder. He vanished.  
  
"Dennis, please. Try to-" Ginny saw his gaze drift over her shoulder and looked back and saw Ron. Dennis gave a small smile and a wave to the two of them and squeaked "The Leaky Cauldron!" and followed Harry. Ron turned and walked away, his face blank, his spirit ebbing away. 


	11. Back To School

Ron turned and walked past Ginny and started to slowly climb the stairs. He felt as if his heart had been turned to glass and then one of those looney toons 10-ton weights dropped on it. His best friend had turned his back on him. Ron couldn't really blame him. But why did he keep saying those horrible things about Colin? He didn't hate him. He didn't exactly like him, but he could certainly hang out with him. So why all the horrible thoughts and words? He was still thinking deeply when he reached his room. Ron put his hand on the half of bed where Harry slept and rubbed up and down the sheet. Somehow, Harry, somehow, I'll figure out what's wrong with me.  
  
Hermione and Molly arrived home Hermione's things about ten minutes after Harry and Dennis left. Ginny was still standing in the doorway between the living room and kitchen as she was when Ron appeared.  
  
"Ginny, what's wrong? Is Ron-" Molly started.  
  
"He went upstairs. Harry and Dennis came by and picked up Harry's things just a bit ago. Ron walked in after Harry had gone back through the fireplace. I was talking to Dennis when Ron looked over my shoulder at him. After that, he waved and went through as well."  
  
"Oh, what is wrong with the two of them? Why can't they just sit down and talk about this?" Hermione asked.  
  
"They are both very strong willed boys, Hermione, I'm sure that they eventually will, it'll just take some time."  
  
"I'm going to figure out what the deal is here if it takes forever."  
  
"Good luck to you, Hermione. If you can figure out adolescent boys, you will never have to work again," Molly said with a wry smile as the walked away.  
  
"Something isn't right, Ginny. Your brother would never say those things, would he?"  
  
"I don't know. I do know that he is really close to Harry. All the times when Harry's not here, he's all that Ron can talk about. 'I wonder how Harry's doing? I wish Harry was here' and so on."  
  
"Could he be jealous, Ginny? Might that be the root of all of this?"  
  
"Jealous of Colin taking away his attention? Maybe."  
  
"I'll ask him tomorrow. Today has been rather, well, rough. I'm going to turn in early so I won't be too exhausted for the feast tomorrow night. G'night, Ginny."  
  
"See you in a bit. I'm tired also."  
  
  
  
*Back in Diagon Alley*  
  
The boys had just returned from a wonderful pot roast dinner, and had cherry pie for dessert. Stuffed as they were, they made it back up to the room just in time to have a pillow fight. Once they were thoroughly tired, they settled down and got changed for bed. It was getting late and they had to meet the train at 10. Dennis was yawning heavily and Colin's eyes were droopy.  
  
"Go get changed you two. You'll fall asleep standing up if you wait much longer. Go on, go." Harry laughed as he said that, thinking that he sounded like a dad.  
  
"Okay, dad, we're going," Colin said, reading his mind.  
  
Harry also changed, chucking his jeans and going for the shorts and a t-shirt sleep ensemble tonight. He laid in the middle of the bed and closed his eyes. He had just realized that it was *way* too quiet in here. He glanced to his left just in time to see the two Creeveys jumping off the night table and desk like Mexican luchador wrestlers. He rolled so that Colin just missed him, but Dennis got him. That of course, started a wrestling match which lasted for about ten minutes.  
  
After the bed sheets were thoroughly disheveled, they stopped and decided it was time to sleep, mostly because Colin about fell asleep while having Harry in a headlock. The lights went out, and so did the three of them, Colin on one side, Harry in the middle, and Dennis on the other.  
  
In the wee hours of the morning, Dennis woke as normal having to pee. He slipped out of bed and used the rest room. Coming back, he saw in the moonlight a picture that Colin would die for. Colin was laying on one of Harry's arms, and had his arm thrown over Harry like a big teddy bear. Dennis dug the camera from Colin's bag and took a single shot in the moonlight. *snap*. He replaced the camera and crawled back into bed. He was asleep in under a minute.  
  
(ah, if I were in that bed…)  
  
When they awoke in the morning, the grabbed a quick breakfast and took a taxi to the station. They were of course running late. It seemed to be law that no one could ever get there on time and the law was true again today. There were dozens of people running around 9&¾ trying to stow their bags and meeting friends.  
  
They boarded the train and started looking for a car to sit in. They walked past the car that he, Ron, and Hermione had shared for the past four years. He saw Hermione and was considering going in, but then he saw Ron. He walked on after giving Hermione a friendly wave. She smiled back, a bit hurt, but nodded in understanding.  
  
They found an empty car a little further up and they stopped there. A few of the Creevey's friends eventually wandered in and joined them, awestruck to be riding with Harry. The chatted idly for the next few hours.  
  
In the trio's former car, Hermione and Ron were about to have quite a talk.  
  
"Okay Ron, we've got a ride ahead of us, so we're going to figure out what the heck is going on here."  
  
"Oh, good." Ron said glumly, and without emotion.  
  
"Start talking." Hermione said, demandingly.  
  
"About what?"  
  
"About whatever has been bothering you since we were at Colin's house."  
  
"Nothing is bothering me, except for the fact that Harry hates me. Nothing more."  
  
"What set that off? Tell me about the trip. Anything. The whole day. We have to figure this out. I don't know if I can deal with this all year."  
  
"Um.. Well, it started like this. I went down and found your letter and…"  
  
*Meanwhile, in the other Important Car*  
  
Colin, Dennis, Harry, and a handful of third and fourth years were talking about quiddich when Seamus stuck his head in.  
  
"Hey Harry, ready for school? Think about it, only three more years and we'll- hey, where's Ron and Hermione?"  
  
"They're back in another car." Dennis answered.  
  
"Why aren't you with them?"  
  
"We have had a big time fight. I don't want to talk to him again."  
  
"Blimey Harry, really? Wow! I'd of never expected that," Seamus said "well, I'll see you later. I've got to find Neville." Seamus closed the door and the boys resumed talking quiddich.  
  
Finding Neville dropped off Seamus' list of important things to do the millisecond the door closed. He took off looking for Ron and Hermione.  
  
*The Other Car*  
  
"…and we stopped by a little pond to have lunch and then I went into the woods to um, you know, and then I came back and- Crikey! I'd forgotten all about that part! Hermione, when I came back he was sprawled out in the grass and when he came to, he said that his scar had hurt so bad that he passed out! I was going to let Harry mention it when we were by ourselves, but he never did, and I was a little busy looking at Jodee- er, Mrs. Creevey and I forgot."  
  
"Ron, that is a rather important thing to have forgotten. Goodness, you-know-who could have been somewhere around there. Or Death Eaters. Or something else pretty bad. Now, what else happened?"  
  
Ron went on to explain the rest of the trip, remembering the rest of the details.  
  
"Nothing in that explains anything, though. Curse it all."  
  
"I'm sorry Hermione, I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm just a freak."  
  
Hermione suddenly remembered her conversation with Ginny last night. "Ron, are you jealous of Colin? Any at all?"  
  
"Jealous, of Colin?" Ron said in a very undignified voice  
  
"I thought so. The way you said that confirmed it for me. Ginny told me you were very close to Harry. Is that what this is?"  
  
Ron looked at his feet. Ron looked out the window. He looked back at his feet. "Yeah, I guess that somewhere in me, I thought that if he was friends with Colin, he couldn't be friends with me as well. But I never meant to say any of those awful things, I swear still. I'd do anything for him. No matter what, I'd love Harry until the end of time."  
  
Ron was completely shocked that he had said that. He definitely wasn't planning on telling Hermione anything of that sort. Hermione was stunned but not shocked, as she always had a 'feeling'. The only thing that could have possibly made the situation any worse for Ron was the fact that the car door slid open while he was saying the last part and Seamus had stuck his head in.  
  
"Seamus!" Ron yelped. "Oh no. you didn't hear- please say you didn't…"  
  
"Actually Ron, I did. But worry not. Your 'secret' is safe with me."  
  
"Why did you say secret like that?" Ron challenged.  
  
"Ron, some of us aren't as bloody unobservant as you. I've had a suspicion for a while now."  
  
"You're not going to - to tell anyone, right? Please?"  
  
"Don't worry lad, mine lips are sealed. Something like that isn't the kind of thing that I'd talk about."  
  
Hermione had been sitting stone silent for their brief exchange. She wasn't quite sure of how to take it. Yeah, she'd thought that maybe…you know, Ron liked Harry a bit. That still doesn't explain how Ron would loose his mind for a few seconds (because she believed that he didn't mean to say those things). And why didn't it happen when they were just talking about Colin? Why only around Harry?  
  
She shook her head to clear the thinking smoke and looked at Ron. "That still doesn't really answer anything, you know."  
  
Ron looked startled. "You mean that I've just told two something that I've kept a secret for a long time and you tell me that you've known all along? Am I that bloody obvious? Bloody hell, I wonder who else might know?"  
  
"Ron," Seamus interjected, "Probably no one. Hermione has been around you more than anyone else 'cept Harry. As for me, well, some of us just know these things."  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ron questioned Seamus with a big 'duh' sign on his face.  
  
"Well, Ron, I guess what it means is that it takes one to know one." With that, Seamus got up and walked to the door. "I'll see you two at the feast." the door slid shut behind him.  
  
"It takes one to know one what? Hermione, what did that mean?"  
  
Blushing and rolling her eyes at Ron's innocence (or ignorance), she said "Ron, what Seamus meant is that he, is, um, he's gay too."  
  
"What? He's gay too? Wait, what's this 'too'?"  
  
"Oh Ron."  
  
"Hermione, promise me you won't tell Harry. That's all I need. He already hates me, but if he finds out, well, you know, it would definitely be over."  
  
"I promise Ron, I promise."  
  
(Author's Note. I was going to fight the power and not have Seamus be gay, but I couldn't. it's just too fun. Sorry, I have no backbone. I will try to not make him the typical slut, though!)  
  
  
  
They arrived at Hogwarts after a few hours more travel. In Harry's car, it was obvious that he had been 'adopted' by the younger years. He actually felt a little bad because he never even took the time to get to know any of them. He had maybe spoken to one or two over the years, most likely it was asking them to pleases move. The car was nearly full the entire time to Hogwarts, and by the time the did arrive the story of what had happened in Flourish and Blotts had spread through nearly the entire train. Even children who had never met either Harry or Ron knew. Draco definitely knew.  
  
He wandered into Ron and Hermione's car half an hour before they arrived.  
  
"What's the matter, Weasley? Your friend finally realized what wizarding trash you are and moved into a different car? Who's he with again? Oh yea, I remember. Colin Creevey. How does that make you feel, Weasel?"  
  
Ron was determined that Draco wouldn't see him screw his face up to block the few tears he had left in him, so he turned to the window. "Go to hell, Malfoy."  
  
Smelling blood, Draco moved in for the kill and stepped into the car. "Poor Weasel. It's still surprising that it took him four years to figure out you were worthless. I've known it since-"  
  
He got no further because Hermione jumped up from her seat and punched Draco square in the nose. "That's enough out of you, *Malfoy*. How does it feel when you get hurt?" She stood between him and Ron. Draco was busy holding his nose and couldn't reply. "Oh no! I've hit a Malfoy. Oh no! he might run and tell his father who might tell my parents…oh, wait. What was that about a crying shame again, *Draco*? Oh, I remember." With that, she punched him again, harder than Tyson and he stumbled and fell out of their car. "Go tell your father that you got beaten by a Mudblood. And like Ron said, go to hell." She shut the door.  
  
She looked at Ron, shaking her hand. "You know, that didn't hurt as much as I thought it would. Maybe he'll mouth off again sometime soon."  
  
Ron looked at her and was flabbergasted. "Hermione, you, you punched the snot out of him. That was bloody brilliant."  
  
"Actually, I punched the blood out of him. It was sort of gross. If he just wouldn't bleed, it would be much better."  
  
"Snot, blood, whatever. It was great." For the first time in over a week, Ron was smiling.  
  
They arrived at school and disembarked. Hagrid was there, as he had been for the last few years, pulling the first years aside and taking them to the boats. The older students got into the usual coaches and made their way up to the school grounds. Much of the conversations in the cars concerned one of three things. The first, and the least talked about of the bunch, was the attack on Hermione's family. The second was how Hermione knocked Draco Malfoy out of their car and left him covered in blood. The third, and overwhelmingly the most talked about, was the rift between Ron and Harry.  
  
"Did you hear--?"  
  
"Yeah, he said--"  
  
"That's horrible. He must be--"  
  
"Jealous. I think so too."  
  
"They've not spoken all summer and--"  
  
"I heard that Ron tried to curse him--"  
  
"Yeah, Harry just managed to block it--"  
  
"My brother said that he threatened to kill him--"  
  
All this and more had spread around the school even before they got there. Rumor mills - even wizarding schools aren't immune. Everyone knew something had happened, but everyone had their own version of the tale. Probably the worst part of it all was that Ron was being ostracized by the majority of the school. His car was empty. He and Hermione had gotten separated in the exodus from the train and he'd not seen her since. A younger Hufflepuff stuck her head in, thinking the car was empty. Once she saw Ron, she squealed and ran to another car, whispering something to her friend.  
  
When they arrived and stepped into the Great Hall, Hermione finally met up with Ron again. "There you are. I couldn't find you at the platform."  
  
"You should have looked for the only singly-occupied car. That was me." He recounted the Hufflepuff girl to her.  
  
She reached over and pulled Ron into a big hug. "I promise you, Ron, we'll get this worked out. I mean it."  
  
"I hope so Hermione. I don't know if I can deal with a whole year of this.  
  
They all walked to their tables and sat down. Hermione saw Harry and Colin coming into the room and motioned to them to come over, pointing to a few empty seats. He gave her a look that she could very easily read, no inner eye needed. It said that as Ron is sitting next to you, there is no chance I'll join you, nothing personal. Quite a few others saw that look and of course interpreted it in their own ways. Harry walked on and sat with some of the lower years in Gryffindor house.  
  
The rest of the students found seats and Professor Dumbledore stood up and welcomed them back to Hogwarts. 


	12. Further Down the Spiral

If I keep posting two chapters a night, I might spoil you all. Nah, probably not. Anyway, before I start the next chapter, allow me this. I've only just finished as far as the Quiddich World Cup in GoF, and I don't remember much about the book after that. I think they bring Moody back as DADA prof in year five, but I don't remember. I don't look ahead in books, so sue me. Anyway, I'm bringing back Lupin. I think that he is a good character. Oh, and a new Div teacher, Trelawny is finally gotten rid of (dumb skank) and replaced with a decent teacher (well, in my opinion).  
  
Also, I've apparently forgotten about two characters completely recently - Ginny and Dean. It appears that Ginny went to Diagon Alley by herself. Oops, my bad. She was supposed to be there. And Dean, well, he is just sooooo background that I forgot completely overlooked his existence. My bad.  
  
Um, one last thing. I'm going to add another character (stand by). He is a friend of the Creevey's and is only mary-sue (or is it gary-stu?) because he has one of the names I'll eventually give one of my sons (watch me have all girls…), Aidan (the others are Seamus [I've liked that one even before HP] and Colin [same thing as Seamus]- not that you all care). Anyway, on with the bloody show.  
  
  
  
Professor Dumbledore welcomed the students into another year at Hogwarts and started into his typical start-of-term speech. "I'd like to greet all of you and hope that you've had a wonderful summer and are ready to be learned in the arts of magic. Before the feast, we will sort the new students. Professor McGonagall, if you're ready, show them in."  
  
The doors to the hall opened and a wave of students entered. Everyone already seated could remember being one of those first years; afraid, excited, apprehensive. The First years looked at all of the older students in awe and fear. They gathered at the small platform and fidgeted as the hat performed its usual song. Once that was over, the sorting began. "Cynthia Adams," McGonagall called.  
  
Students filled all the houses nearly evenly, with Hufflepuff getting a small majority of Firsties. Once the excitement of the sorting was over and voices calmed, Dumbledore raised his hands as he stood again.  
  
"Before we eat, I would like to introduce a few new faculty members. Professor Trelawny has retired (no, actually she just sucks and was fired, says the author) and her place has filled by Miss Montego. He motioned to a black woman whose head was wrapped in a yellow cloth and was wearing some sort of Caribbean garb. She had dread locked hair that fell out of the cloth and down her shoulders and back. She waved to the students and in a very warm and accented voice said "Hello there."  
  
(quick author's note here- yes, it's Miss Cleo. She rocks, but that's not what the note is for. You remember Trelawny? That is where Miss Cleo is from- Trelawny, in Jamaica. My tarot cards told me that you'd like to know that. Back to the story)  
  
Professor Dumbledore gestured a bit further down the table and the students focused their attention on a very familiar shape. Lupin was back. "This is Professor Lupin, he has returned to fill the Defense Against the Dark Arts position."  
  
Up and down three of the tables, students grinned and applauded. Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Gryffindor all were excited about this. The Slytherins were of course unhappy.  
  
"Now," Dumbledore continued, "This year won't have the excitement of the past few years, I hope, with the next Tri-Wizard tournament still a few years off." He looked around the room at the engaged faces. "I think I've said enough for now so let's eat."  
  
He waved a hand and food appeared all over the tables. Decorations of the houses fluttered into existence. He smiled and sat down, picking up a chicken leg.  
  
Harry was oh so sorry to hear about Trelawny's departure. "Who's going to predict my death all year now, Colin?" Colin laughed so hard that mashed potatoes threatened to exit his nose.  
  
"I don't know, Harry, but the new teacher sure looks, well, odd."  
  
"She does, but that might be good. Lupin looks a bit weird too, you know." he said. "Aidan, pass me a roll please?" Harry was talking to one of Colin's friends that he'd met on the train.  
  
"Sure Harry!" he said and passed the entire plate.  
  
"Just one will work, Aidan."  
  
Dinner seemed to go on forever. Harry looked up the table and saw the rest of the group, Hermione, Seamus, Dean, Neville, and Ron. They were all having a decent time except for Ron. He looked rather miserable. Harry made a mental note to go talk to him after he had a little pang of guilt. Maybe it wasn't his fault and all? He'd have to find out.  
  
Dinner ended and the thoroughly fattened students rolled their way back to their dorms with the first years in front. The group of Gryffindors entered the portrait hole with the password 'ad naseum'. Harry and his group were among the last to enter and when they finally did, the room was full. First years wandering and looking at everything, older students talking and catching up from events over the summer. Ron was sitting with Hermione, Seamus, Fred, George, and Neville near the fire, talking.  
  
Ron saw them coming and swallowed heavily. Neville and Hermione also saw Harry and company as they approached. "Maybe he's come to make a peace, Ron," Hermione said quietly.  
  
"Maybe. Hopefully." Ron replied.  
  
Harry was flanked by Colin on one side and Aidan and Dennis on the other. "Ron, can we talk for a bit? This is getting ridiculous."  
  
"Yeah, we can," Ron agreed.  
  
"See, now that wasn't so hard, was it, boys?" Hermione asked. Most everyone's attention had turned to her, except Ron and Aidan, making Aidan the only person to think he saw a quick and faint glow of green in Ron's eyes.  
  
"Oh, so the great Harry potter finally has a spot of time for the lowly Ron Weasley. What's the matter, Harry, isn't your fan club giving you enough adoration?" Ron blurted out unbelievably loud.  
  
"Ron? What the-" Harry started to say when Ron interrupted him.  
  
"Look everyone, he's talking to me. Hey Colin, why don't you take a picture of that, huh? That would go great with the rest of them. No, wait, I have an even better idea. Colin can take a picture of this!" Ron stuck his middle finger in the younger boy's face.  
  
Colin was dumbfounded at that, as were the rest of the surrounding people. Nearly everyone was frozen in place except two, Harry and Seamus. Harry surged forward at Ron with eyes filled with rage, but was thankfully (for Ron) knocked backwards by a check from Seamus that would have made Chris Chelios envious.  
  
"I've had it with him. I'm going to pound the snot out of him!" Harry yelled.  
  
"No, lad, you're certainly not." Seamus had grabbed Harry under the shoulders and was still driving him back. Seamus' strength surprised everyone in the room because although Harry wasn't anywhere near the biggest in Gryffindor, he was much thicker than Seamus. "Hermione, Fred, George, get him out of here. Now!"  
  
Harry had also been grappled by Aidan and Colin and they were holding him while Ron was roughly escorted out the portrait hole. Ron's face was one of total surprise and shock. Once again, he couldn't believe what had just happened.  
  
"Harry, stop it. Stop now!" Seamus was still holding on, but he was flagging.  
  
"Oh! That frigging PRAT. Let me go!"  
  
Neville joined the Restrain Harry Potter Club and they ended up tackling him.  
  
"Harry, I'm sorry about this, but we're not getting off until you calm the hell down," Neville said, and was truly sorry he had to do this to Harry.  
  
"Harry, settle down, please Harry!" Colin pleaded. Harry began to slowly lessen his thrashing.  
  
"Okay. I'm fine. Really." Harry said after a another two minutes of being piled on. "Alright. You all can get up now." Slowly they did, keeping themselves between Harry and the door.  
  
Meanwhile, in the Hallway….  
  
Ron was taken into the corridor and a few hallways over. "What in the holy hell was that, Ron? He was trying to make up with you." Fred asked as he pushed Ron up against the wall.  
  
"I - I don't know. I can't explain it. It was just like before. He walked up and it was like it wasn't me in my head. I had no control."  
  
"I think that I should go and get Professor McGonagall," Hermione said to the group.  
  
"No! please don't do that!" Ron begged. "She might do something to Harry."  
  
"Well, Ron, in case you didn't notice, Harry was intent on doing something to you in there," George added in. "You definitely don't want what he was giving out."  
  
"This is my problem. Maybe getting beaten down is what I need to fix my head."  
  
"No, that won't solve anything, Ron. Do you think that anything changed when I knocked Malfoy senseless? No. Of course not. Nothing will change for you either."  
  
Back in the Common Room….  
  
"Seamus, I just don't understand it. He- I don't know. Harry pushed the hair from his eyes. "What ever brought this on? How can I be about to throttle my friend?"  
  
"Harry, we don't know. Maybe we should tell Dumbledore or someone," injected Neville.  
  
"That might get Ron expelled. As much as I can't stand him right now, I don't want that. Just keep him away from me." A look of irritation crossed Harry's brow. "bloody hell, I have to sleep next to him. That'll be loads of fun, I'm sure."  
  
"Just ignore him, Harry. Don't talk to him, don't look at him. He's not there," Aidan said. "It'll be best that way.  
  
"We will keep you apart in the dorm room, won't we Neville, Dean?" Seamus said. "I'll switch you beds so you can be further away from him. "I'm sure Hermione knows some charm to separate you two already anyways."  
  
Harry looked very unsure of all this, but reluctantly agreed. "I'm going on to bed.  
  
Good night, Colin, Aidan, Dean, everyone else. You wanna come switch things now, Seamus?"  
  
"Be right there." Harry walked up and Seamus followed quickly.  
  
After Harry left, the rest of the stunned faces in the common room thinned out quickly. "Colin, did you ever do anything to piss Ron off?" Aidan asked.  
  
"No. Not a thing. He was at my house for a day, you know. I was very nice to him, but he must have something against me." Colin looked quite sad about that. He couldn't fathom why Ron disliked him so.  
  
In the Hallway….  
  
"I'll go in and check. You all wait here." Hermione stepped through the hole and into the common room. She saw only a handful of people left. "Has Harry gone off to bed already?"  
  
"Yeah, he and Seamus went up about ten minutes ago." Colin answered as Seamus descended the steps.  
  
"He's sleepin'. The lad's all confused. As am I, for that matter. Is Ron out there?"  
  
"Yeah, I was checking to see if everything was cooled down."  
  
"We just finished moving our stuff and he collapsed on my-his bed and fell asleep."  
  
"You changed-"  
  
"Uh huh, we figured that it might be for the best. Harry doesn't want to go to a teacher over this."  
  
"Neither does Ron, actually. So I guess that leaves us to figure it out, huh?"  
  
"It's a good thing you're here, Hermione, otherwise I wouldn't like our chances at all," Seamus said. They all nodded in a sad sort of agreement.  
  
  
  
Oh, just in case you didn't know who the crap Chris Chelios is, he's a defenseman for the Redwings hockey team. He hits like a ton of bricks. Now the meat of the story comes out of the oven and on to your plates. Sorry it took so long. I hope you didn't mind too much. 


	13. Further Still Down the Spiral

Okay, before I start today's installment, a few notes.  
  
1)I feel that the story has outgrown its current title and shall be known as What Do You Say -- Spirits of the Past. It will fit when I get a little further into the story. I'll drop the WDYS soon, most likely after next chapter, so remember the new title.  
  
2)I read what is most likely the best story on FFN tonight. It's called 'Unthinkable Thoughts' by Aidan Lynch. Not only does he have a great name, he is one hell of a writer. I HIGHLY recommend this. I was really in his world. It is a Harry/Draco angst and I could feel every bit of it. It's quite long, but well worth it. Check it out and give him a glowing review.  
  
4)I want to give Ron a big fluffy hug soooooo bad. Poor Ron. I don't know how much more H/R hate *I* can deal with. Probably not much more. (squeezes Ron in a hug)  
  
5)Shimmerwings, I politely demand you write soon. Come on, if I can do it (look at my English grades- sheesh) you can do it.  
  
Well, that's all of this….on with the show. Hey, where'd note 3 go?  
  
Ah hell….too lazy…  
  
  
  
Things were odd in the Gryffindor rooms. Most everyone had chosen sides in the situation, except for those most directly involved. The immediate group refused to choose either. Neville, Ginny, Seamus, and Hermione still talked to both Harry and Ron. Most of the rest had taken Harry's side, Aidan and the Creeveys included, although that was the last thing Harry wanted.  
  
Classes started the next day, and as they had for the last four years, they had Potions with the Slytherins. It was as if the teachers enjoyed tormenting them this way. Over breakfast and the buzz of the schedules it seemed that last night's events had been forgotten, or at least placed on the back burner for the time being.  
  
Professor Binns was still as boring as he was dead (quite). Herbology was at least remotely interesting. Divination was odd. Care for Magical Creatures, well, always interesting. Transfiguration was shaping up to be even more difficult than last year. And Potions was just as horrible as before.  
  
Three days had passed already in the new term. The Gryffindor common room was like a town around an active volcano. Any slight action could set the two of them off. On the fourth day, things got a bit more interesting, if that's possible.  
  
Harry, Seamus, Neville, and Hermione were walking up from lunch when they heard raised voices coming from near the Potions room. The voices sounded as if there would be a fight in the immediate future. They picked up their pace and overheard the end of the conversation.  
  
"It's obvious, Weasley, that he hates you. In fact, everyone hates you, except that Mudblood and she doesn't count. So, why don't you do everyone a favor and turn in your second-hand wand and hitch-hike back to whatever dank cave your family calls home." Malfoy. That snotty drawl is unmistakable.  
  
"They might hate me. They probably do. In fact, they have every right to. But, they are my friends, especially Harry, and you will NOT talk about them like that anymore." That was definitely Ron. Ron was defending Harry? Huh?  
  
"What are you going to do, Weasel?" he glanced at his two goons "go ahead. Do it."  
  
Ron looked at Crabbe and Goyle and then happened to see Snape coming up the hallway. "You just got lucky, Malfoy. But after class, I *will* pull your card. I'll pull theirs, too," he said, gesturing at the two oafs. "Outside."  
  
The group broke up and entered the classroom. Harry was too confused trying to figure out what was going on to concentrate on Snape, so ten points from Gryffindor. Ron was glowering at Malfoy. Ten points from Gryffindor. Malfoy gave Ron the middle finger. Ron returned it. Ten points from Gryffindor. Time seemed to have first slowed to a crawl and then spun backwards. By the time class was over, Gryffindor had lost sixty points and Slytherin had gained thirty.  
  
The Gryffindors headed out with Ron in a united front to get ready for the coming dust-up, but not surprising, the Slytherin never showed up. After a round of grumbling, the group broke up and went their separate ways, the temporary alliance gone. Ron walked off to the lake while the others debated the earlier events.  
  
"So what was up with him earlier?" Seamus asked.  
  
"Maybe that was his odd way of saying he's sorry to you, Harry," Neville put in.  
  
"If it was, he needs to try again. I wouldn't mind seeing Malfoy beaten some more, but I need to hear the words 'I'm sorry' come out of his mouth." Harry said.  
  
"Well, Harry, do you want to come with us to the kitchen for a snack or two?" Seamus asked.  
  
"Thanks, but no. Colin is getting out of Transfiguration about now and I told him we'd go see Hagrid." Harry pondered something for a few seconds and added "Actually, would you mind bringing back a few goodies, since Hagrid's are usually, well, more building material than edible?"  
  
"Not at all, mate. We'll save you a few pasties," Seamus was laughing hard. Everyone in Gryffindor knew to avoid Hagrid's treats. Harry had tried to share over the years with nearly everyone. There were still a few of his treats in Gryffindor's tower - as doorstops and paperweights and the like. Harry headed to McGonagall's room while the others went to the kitchens.  
  
Ron had gone out to the lake and was circling it, heading for his favorite spot. He came on a pile of rocks and bushes and sat on the rocks. He began tossing rocks across the lake. He had spent many a free hour here. Most of his free hours, actually. He had started spiraling further into depression, but out here, it lifted a bit. He came out here to think and try to regain himself  
  
Ron looked up at the sky and asked whatever gods might have been listening, "Why? Why are you doing this to me?" The gods must not have been happy about being interrupted, for as an answer, Harry and Colin walked from the castle onto the grounds. He felt an instant wave of hate and his eyes shone with the familiar green flash. His blood pressure rose. Ron fought it. He fought it with every ounce of strength he had. His pulse dropped, he regained control of himself. He felt like you do when a fever finally breaks. He smiled for the first time in days and said to the sky "I won. I won, didn't I?"  
  
As he was congratulating himself, he was struck with a bolt of pure agony. It was like a cobble stone had been placed in his head and was being turned roughly. He doubled over and blissfully passed out into the bushes.  
  
Back in the common room, Hermione, Seamus, and Neville were just sitting down to crack open Professor Binns reading assignment.  
  
"Oh, this is bloody foolish. Who cares about what happened here so long ago?" Seamus moaned, very unhappy about the number of pages in his future.  
  
"Seamus, the events that happened here all those years ago are the reason that Hogwarts was built here."  
  
"Yeah, so? It happened, good. So what?"  
  
"Seamus, have you ever heard the expression 'those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it'?"  
  
"Aye, I have, but have you heard this one? 'Those who read boring books are doomed to become boring people'?" Neville giggled at that and tried to avoid Hermione's withering gaze.  
  
"Sorry, Hermione, just kidding. In your learned opinion, what makes all this so terribly interesting, anyway?"  
  
"Oh no, Seamus Finnegan, I've fallen for that little trick often enough with Harry and Ron. Read the chapter. I'll tell you nothing."  
  
"'Twas a good try, eh mate?" he said to Neville who once again had to cover his mouth. He settled down and opened the book. He closed it less than two minutes later.  
  
"Seamus, where are you going?" Hermione chided.  
  
"I have a four thirty Exploding Snap appointment."  
  
"An appointment? With who?"  
  
"With, um," he glance around the room and saw Harry and Colin enter. "With Harry. Ah, just in time for our four thirty appointment, Harry."  
  
Harry was quite confused. He saw the look of reproach in Hermione's eyes and the look of mischief in Seamus'. "Oh, I'd almost forgot, come on Colin, we have an appointment." The three walked up into the dorms.  
  
Neville gave up trying to study a minute later and got up also.  
  
"Where are you going?" Hermione asked.  
  
"My appointment is at four forty and I'd like to get there at least a few minutes early." His ears were redder than radishes as he scampered up the steps.  
  
"Boys. Huff." Hermione said as she turned back to her book. Most of what Professor Binns had assigned she already knew from her multiple readings of Hogwarts, A History. As she progressed further in the chapter, she found many things that the other book had glossed over. Tribal shamans wielding powerful ancient sorcery, gruesome rituals, great betrayals, and a terrible sacrifice here and there. These events and others had made the lands Hogwarts stood on as magic as it was. She bit the end of her quill and began the taking of copious notes.  
  
She had been sitting oblivious to the rest of the world for almost two hours. She might have gone longer had it not been for the loud arrival of the Exploding Snap Appointment Club (as it soon became known). It's dozen or so members came into the common room and stopped at her chair.  
  
"Hey, Hermione, it's dinner time. Hermione? Hello, are you in there?"  
  
She looked up and was startled to see them. "Sorry. I was reading about a great sorcerer from long ago. He was killed here and-"  
  
"Hungry. We hungry. No talky now. Food first. Come." Harry was trying to be funny and everyone but her agreed that he was.  
  
"Fine. Let's go." She scanned the group for Ron but didn't see him. She was fairly sure that he'd not come in. They piled out of the room and Hermione stopped thinking of him when Dennis told a rather dirty joke that even made Seamus blush…  
  
When Ron finally came around nearly three hours later, he felt worse than he ever thought possible. His whole body ached like he'd been thrown down a flight of steps repeatedly. He staggered to his feet and eventually made it back to the castle and then to the tower. "Ricta Dianno" he told the portrait and it swung open. The common room was empty. Glancing at the grandfather clock, he vaguely recognized it was dinner time. He crawled up the steps and collapsed on his bed. He was out like the proverbial light. He stayed that way until the next morning.  
  
He was brought from his dreamless sleep by a hand shaking his shoulder. A voice he dimly recognized as Neville's was calling to him. "Get up, Ron, breakfast's in a few minutes."  
  
He finally got one eye open and that was a battle. The other grudgingly opened also. He no longer ached like yesterday, but his mind hurt today. He gazed around the room. Harry and Seamus were just leaving. All the colors looked wrong. They seemed flat. he saw the sunrise from the window and instead of the typical fuzzy because-its-pretty feeling he got from it, it just looked dull and distant. It was like looking at a 40 watt light bulb in the middle of a Quiddich stadium from the farthest corner. Dull.  
  
Ron finally got both feet on the ground and plodded for the showers. He stood under the hot water forever, trying to get the chill from his bones. A full forty minutes passed and he was still chilled. A voice called from the doorway. "Ron, are you still in here?" It was Neville. "Ron, you've already missed breakfast and class is in ten minutes."  
  
"Okay." Ron shut off the water and after wrapping a towel around himself, stepped from the immense steam cloud.  
  
Neville took a step back when he saw Ron. His eyes looked absolutely empty. He just looked, well, dead? That doesn't quite fit, but it was the first thing Neville thought of. "Are you okay, Ron? You don't look so good."  
  
"I'm fine. Just real tired. I guess that it's a good thing I'm not hungry, huh?"  
  
He walked past Neville and back into the dorms. Neville shuddered as he passed him. It felt like he was thinking through a big puddle of mud. The simplest actions required immense effort and thought. (--Author's Note1-to best describe Ron's feelings now, think manic-depression. Way down. Absolute zero down. If you know what I'm talking about, you already know. If you don't, good for you. It sucks. --Author's Note2- hey, guess when I write angst-y fics and when I write happy ones!?! Anyone? Back at the ranch…) Ron somehow made it through the day, even though every step and thought made him want to alternately cry and pummel something. Even Malfoy, the soul-less creature he was, backed off Ron in Potions. Nothing he could do could make Ron feel any worse and he knew it.  
  
The next day started off a carbon copy of the first. He barely made breakfast, though. Hermione was getting worried. Mail came and Hermione temporarily forgot her worries over Ron. She received a letter from St. Mungo's. She tore it open and found that her parents had shown 'limited improvement' in the last month. Nothing huge, but something. She was all teary eyed and looked at Neville and showed him the letter. He hugged her.  
  
Harry also received a package that morning. As he was sitting with Colin and Dennis and Aidan, he didn't know that Hermione had gotten her letter. A giant bird, splendid beyond description flew in the room and at Harry. "Is that, an eagle?" Aidan asked as he shrunk back a bit from the bird into Harry's side.  
  
"I think so, it looks like one." The bird gracefully flew to him and dropped a small package in Harry's hands. He quickly opened it and pulled out a strange necklace and a piece of paper.  
  
"What is it, Harry?" Dennis and Colin were about to wet themselves they were so intrigued.  
  
"It's um, a necklace." he showed them. It was a black stone about the size of a quarter with roughly set orange inlays in it. It looked like some sort of stylized bird, sort of feathery. "Ooh, it feels warm, and, *old*" he said.  
  
Aidan had picked up the parchment and read it aloud to the small group. "I fear you will need this. Remember, Power is oft Loveless, but Love is all Powerful. The power to take life is always coupled with the power to give life." he looked puzzled. Glancing at Harry, he asked "What does all that mean. And who sent it to you?"  
  
"I don't know either answer, Aidan. It is quite strange though. Feel it."  
  
The group felt it, and they all agreed on both the warmth and the *old* feeling. "That's bloody weird, Harry." Dennis said "but is mighty cool looking." Harry put it on and finished his oatmeal. Colin just looked in awe, as normal. Once he was finished he stuck the parchment in his robes and told the younger years goodbye. "See you all at lunch."  
  
The day comes and goes. Ron feels completely miserable and has increasingly depressive thoughts. He tried to talk to Hermione after their last class, but she couldn't really help. "I'm really worried Ron. You just look bad."  
  
"I feel worse trust me. I just wish the hurt would stop."  
  
"Come on, we're going to go to the infirmary. You need help."  
  
"No, she'll just give me something to make me sleep and that is the last thing I want. I'll just go for a walk and clear my head." Ron left and started walking the grounds.  
  
"Oh, Ron. I wish I could help you." She picked her History of Magic book back up and started reading more about Curralaigh, another ancient wizard from the area.  
  
  
  
So how long until Hermione figures everything out like she ALWAYS does? Maybe she doesn't. who knows. See you soon.  
  
energy 


	14. Realizations for Two, Please

I now have another reason to despise my computer. It just decided that there would be no more country music played tonight and begun playing Puddle of Mud instead. I can't compose epic stories to Puddle of Mud!! It would seem that this box of parts has something against Kenny Chesney and Lonestar. What nerve. That was really really weird. I even closed Media Player and RESTARTED and it still wouldn't shut off. Spooky… could it be a spirit? A Spirit of the Past? Mwa ha ha. You care, I know that deep down , you really care.  
  
Now on to something completely different. I love Ron angst as much as the next person (well maybe more, since this chapter is completely Ron angst) but I am getting too sad writing this. I might have to insert a fluff chapter or two to lighten everything up. Maybe something Neville-y flavored. Neville-y flavored with a dash of….who? Hermione? Seamus? Madame Hooch? (that could be interesting) I guess you could make polite suggestions.  
  
  
  
He left Hermione and started walking. In the halls he was avoided. Other students would cross the hallway just to not be near him. Shunned. He tried to look like he wasn't affected by their actions, but he was failing. This was quite like when everyone believed that Harry was the one petrifying people. Only then, Harry had Ron. This time, Ron didn't have Harry. He only had Hermione. Not that she was worthless, mind you, just unable to help him now. Ron tossed his head up, determined to make it outside before he lost control, and walked out a side door.  
  
A week of class had passed so far, each day getting a bit worse for Ron. It was a Friday afternoon now and every other student was excited for having the first week over with and to be able to relax for two days. All four common rooms were crowded with students chatting over the first week's experiences. Ron spent the weekend away from all of the other students for most of the time. He talked a bit with Hermione, Seamus, and Neville, as well as a few other students that hadn't completely forsaken him in Gryffindor.  
  
He tried to stay away from Harry and the others as much as possible and was largely successful. While he stayed away from them, he surely didn't forget about them. During every conversation with the aforementioned Gryffindors he would ask how Harry was, like the friend he so dearly wanted to be would. Hearing about Harry's adventures during the week was the one thing that kept him going and put a smile on his face.  
  
There was another troubled soul in Gryffindor House, but this one would be unexpected by nearly all. This child had everything he wanted, but was afraid to his very core of one thing. He was all smiles around everyone else, especially the object of his desire, but at night when the lights were out, he shivered and shook in fright, scared of abandonment. No one else knew his fear. No one.  
  
The same week early Quiddich practice began again. This year Gryffindor had to replace Oliver Wood at the Keeper position as well as elect a new captain. Wood had graduated the year before the Tri-Wizard Tournament and because of the Tournament, of course no games were played last year. For the Keeper position, Gryffindor looked to a third-year named Chris McGuinn who did quite well in the try-outs. He was a bit unsteady under heavy pressure, but McGonagall was sure that he'd break in real nice and quick, hopefully by the first match against Ravenclaw.  
  
The team tried to automatically name Harry as the new captain, but he graciously declined the honor. The mantle instead passed to Katie Bell. The first practices were rather rough since they hadn't played together in over a year. In fact, a non-biased viewer of all four houses' first week of practice would have to admit that Gryffindor was maybe good enough for third place behind Slytherin and Ravenclaw. Of course the Gryffindors definitely wouldn't believe that.  
  
During the Friday afternoon's practice Harry received a letter as they were preparing to mount their brooms. Opening it after the owl left the field, Harry was quite excited to find it was from Oliver Wood. He wrote the team to wish them luck and to let them know that he had been drafted by the Chudley Cannons and would start as Keeper this season.  
  
"Wow! That's great!" Harry said after he finished reading the letter to the team. "He'll be great, I know it. He was great here," Katie said.  
  
"Yeah," Harry added, "he's playing for the Cannons. Ron'll love to-" he stopped in mid-sentence and looked back at the castle. "Ron'll love to know that." Harry walked over to the bench to both put the letter with his gear as well as to get himself under control. The silence between them had begun to really get to him about a week ago. He missed Ron terribly. Although it pained him greatly, he wasn't about to go and ditch Colin just for Ron's sake. He just hoped that Ron would get his ducks in a row quick.  
  
  
  
Ron would sit under a tree about a half mile from the field and watch the practices. He'd watch Harry and the rest of the team circle and dive and loop all over the countryside. He'd smile. Sometimes watching made him feel better, other times it didn't help at all. Ron would always leave the field while the team headed to the locker room so he wouldn't be noticed. Where he went from there changed daily. The only thing he did consistently is not go to dinner with the rest of the students. After today's practice, he took a short walk around the lake and decided to go on back and grab a quick shower and then just go to bed. He just wanted to fall into slumber so he wouldn't have to deal with anything else today more than he wanted dinner.  
  
  
  
Harry cleaned up and hurried back to the common room with the great news, hoping he could catch the Gryffindors before they went to the Great Hall. He found a majority of them there, writing essays and playing chess mostly. Harry quickly looked around and hoped to see Ron but didn't so he squelched a feeling of loneliness and blurted out the news to everyone.  
  
The replies were varied, as a few of the younger years knew nothing of either Wood or Quiddich so they cared not, to shouts of congratulations and cheers from the older students. The letter was set up on the mantle and charmed to shine orange.  
  
Hermione was one of two people who recognized Harry's glance about the room for what it was, so she whispered to him that she'd tell him first off when he came back in. Harry quietly thanked her and went up to the dormitories while nearly all the rest of the Gryffindors went down to dinner. Colin, being the other person catching the glance around the room, stayed behind as the others left and followed Harry up the steps a few minutes later.  
  
Harry was laying face up on his bed, with his hands behind his head and his legs crossed. His eyes were shut tight and if he heard the door open on its nearly silent hinges he gave no notice. The door nearly silently shut after the small boy stepped through. He looked over at Harry and wondered if he was already asleep. Not that quick. Unless it's in Professor Binn's class…  
  
Colin stood at the foot of the bed and watched Harry for a moment. He seemed to be barely breathing. Aside from the slight rise and fall of his chest it would seem he might be dead. Colin stood for a moment longer, trying to get his courage up to say what he came to say. After a deep breath, he began.  
  
"Harry," he called out in a voice just slightly above a whisper with a pained look on his face, "Harry, can I talk to you for a minute?"  
  
Colin was about to call to him again when he finally moved. His eyes opened and focused on Colin. At least they tried to. A hand snaked over to the bedside table and lifted his glasses to his eyes.  
  
"Hello, Colin. What's up?" Harry answered in a very relaxed voice.  
  
"Harry, I um, was sort of wondering if I could, ah, talk to you for a minute or two."  
  
"Sure, pull up some bed and have a seat." Harry pulled his legs back and sat up against the headboard and Colin sat on the side of the bed. "What's on your mind?"  
  
"Harry, I've been watching, well, that's not quite what I meant, I mean I've noticed-" Colin broke off in mid thought, seemingly unsure as of how to put his words.  
  
"Deep breath, Colin. Inhale. Count to five. Exhale. Feel a bit better?"  
  
Actually Colin did. Maybe calmer, not better. "A little. Harry, I know how great friends you and Ron are, and I know that you are hurting bad over all this, and it's my fault anyway--" Colin was talking so rapidly that Harry could barely make his words out.  
  
"Colin, slow down, I can barely understand you. Slow down." Harry saw that something was obviously troubling Colin, so he scooted over to the side of the bed next to the boy.  
  
"Okay. I have seen you hurting ever since we came back to school. I just want you to know that if you want to," he took a deep breath and sniffed once before continuing, "if you want to forget about me and be friends with Ron again, I understand."  
  
Colin looked at Harry after he got the last few words out and looked as if he might shatter. To say that Harry was stunned would be an understatement. He was soundless for a few seconds and in that short time Colin began shedding tears like a fountain, sure that Harry would drop him like a bad habit.  
  
When he finally spoke, Colin was in full leak mode and Harry had to blink one back too. "Colin, you're right on one thing, I am hurting, pretty bad actually. We've been close for five years." he reached over and pulled Colin into a hug. "But you're completely wrong on another." he used the hand around his Colin's shoulder to lift his face up. "I will never, *never*, forget about you, colin. Never."  
  
Colin smiled a teary-eyed smile and hugged Harry back hard, burying his face in Harry's t-shirt. Harry leaned his forehead down until it was touching the crown of Colin's head. Harry closed his eyes and just held him as he sobbed himself out, gently patting and rubbing Colin's back.  
  
"Maybe I should talk to a Professor about this," Ron thought to himself in a moment of brilliance. He had been weighing that thought for two days now, but was worried that they might send him off to some asylum like St. Mungo's if they decided he was crazy. That was the last thing he wanted. He wasn't crazy, was he? No, most likely not. Definitely depressed, but not crazy.  
  
Ron ducked into a classroom as he heard a voice from around a corner that sounded very much like Hermione telling someone named Seamus to quit using such horrible language and if McGonagall were to hear him… Ron pulled the door shut and ducked low as the gaggle of Gryffindors passed by him. Once silence returned, he peeked out the glass and saw an empty hallway. He opened the door and sighed. He missed them. Missed them bad. He turned back to the path to his common room.  
  
He stepped into the deserted room and felt the people who had just left. Feelings of happiness. Ron stood and wished he could be in that world again. With his head hung low he trudged up the steps toward his room. He stopped halfway and looked back over the room. It felt like someone else's place, not remotely his. He turned back to the steps and again dropped his head.  
  
He pushed the door to his room open and mentally thanked Hagrid. Hagrid had sent some half-giant made jelly to them last Christmas and seeing as it was completely inedible, it was used by Seamus to lubricate the squeaky door hinge. It had been silent since. While the door was almost silent, the first thing he saw when he looked in the room made him absolutely mute.  
  
There was Harry holding Colin in a classic example of a lovers' embrace. Ron stood there stunned for a ten count and then quickly turned on his heels and retreated back down the steps, beginning to sob but muffling the sounds. He blindly ran down corridors until he could run no more. He ducked into a classroom and collapsed.  
  
  
  
"Colin? Are you awake?" Harry asked softly after the crying child had ceased moving. Getting no answer, Harry realized how much this must have been bothering Colin. "He actually thought that I'd abandon him like that?" Harry wondered. "I couldn't. no way. Never. I couldn't leave someone I love like that. Did I just think love? Hmm…maybe. I've not felt like this before." Harry snuck an arm under Colin's legs and picked him up. He scooted back so he was completely on the bed and laid the them both down, Colin still hugging him and with his own arm around the smaller boy.  
  
"I'll just lay here for a few minutes and then wake him up and we'll go get dinner," Harry said to himself. It was a good plan, but a tiresome practice and the feeling of serenity and calm he felt now convinced his body otherwise. He fell asleep within two minutes.  
  
  
  
Oh poor Ron!!! Someone make me stop!!! Things aren't looking good now, and aren't going to look up for a bit either. On the other hand, Harry and Colin are soooo cute I'm getting a warm fuzzy feeling all over. Ahhhhh, so sweet. What do you think? Hopefully, I'll get another chapter up today to make up for the lack of weekend postings (stupid work thing) cross your fingers and leave me a few reviews in the meantime.  
  
Oh, another idea- if you all come across any great stories, let me know. Drop me an email (super-goose@excite.com) or put it in the review box. I don't always get to read as many stories as I want due to typing time ( two broken fingers really slow you down) and that stupid ol' job of mine. 


	15. Two Beginnings and One End

I was planning on getting another chapter up yesterday but I bought the new Nine Inch Nails DVD, figuring that I could wait and watch it after I was finished writing. HA. No way. I have come to the conclusion that Ron's favorite band is most definitely NIN, though. They're so angsty and low sometimes.  
  
For those of you who are country music junkies like me, I've found an example of the way I see Colin. In Kenny Chesney's video 'Young', a trio of boys is shown about halfway through the video by the water. My Colin is the one in the middle in the jean shorts and no shirt. They show another good image of him in a football helmet a bit later with a great smile. (warm and fuzzy feelings….) it's a great song and a fun video too, so check it out on CMT.  
  
Harry awoke to the low growl of his stomach. He opened his eyes and saw the sleeping form still sprawled on top of him. He smiled. Harry glanced over at his snitch clock and saw that they'd slept for about 15 minutes.  
  
"Colin, wake up." no response at all. "Colin! Get up. I'm starving. Wake up."  
  
This time he got a response. Two red-rimmed eyes looked up at him. "Huh? "  
  
"Colin, we need to get to dinner. You know, feed the machine and all?"  
  
"Yeah, I'm starving," Colin said.  
  
As Colin got off him, Harry noticed a wet spot on his shirt. "Colin, I do hope that those are tears and not drool on me."  
  
"Me too," was the grinning reply that Harry received. Colin stretched and started walking to the door. "You know what Harry? I know that I closed that door when I came in here," he said gesturing at the open door while Harry went to grab a shirt.  
  
"Well, it's probably just possessed again. It sometimes has a bad habit of opening whenever we're changing." Harry pulled a dry shirt out of his wardrobe and tossed the damp one in his pile. "McGonagall has tried to fix it so many times I've lost count."  
  
"Weird. And I thought that Aidan's possessed wardrobe was odd."  
  
"His wardrobe's possessed? Does it toss clothes out or what?" The two of them discussed possessed dorm room objects as they made their way down to the Great Hall.  
  
Their arrival was noticed by few people, Hermione the usual exception along with Seamus. Seeing Ron not at her side, Harry and Colin sat by them. Hermione was busy eating meatloaf with one hand while her other held open a book. Seamus was doing his best to annoy her and make her loose her concentration but had apparently failed so far. He switched over to Neville and tried his luck on the other boy. Hermione sighed with relief and rolled her eyes at Harry.  
  
"We thought you weren't coming down for dinner," Hermione said to him and Colin.  
  
"We were but then it was like we took a draught of Snape's Apnea Potion. We took a short nap," Harry answered. He caught a glimpse of Colin sighing in relief, apparently afraid that Harry would have said something. He ruffled Colin's hair and said with a big grin, "And this is one of the most difficult people to wake in the world."  
  
"Seamus!!" a voice called from Harry's left. Neville's pieces of meatloaf were deftly avoiding his fork. Seamus was looking at the rafters for rogue owls trying to appear innocent. He could barely hold back the smile.  
  
"Nope, no owls up there."  
  
Hermione was chuckling against her will at the mobile meatloaf as she tried to continue. "Have you read any of this yet, Harry?" she was pointing to the book.  
  
"I've resisted successfully so far and probably will until Sunday night."  
  
"Harry Potter! You would like this. It's about historic sorcerers and some of the things they did. Quite a few of them even lived around here, before it was Hogwarts. And if I'm not mistaken, Professor Binns said that one of them--"  
  
"Hermione, for Merlin's sake, it's Friday night. No homework can be done on a Friday night," Seamus called from beside her. "You know that. House rules. I think you might need an Appointment tonight to get your mind off the books. How about 8:00?"  
  
"Seamus Finnegan!! I'd never do- oh, that kind of appointment, as in Exploding Snap. We'll see about all that." the rest of their immediate dinner mates were all roaring with laughter over Hermione's outburst as she turned a divine shade of red.  
  
Dinner was finished and the crowd broke up and headed to the four winds. Back in the common room in Gryffindor tower people were milling about everywhere. Hermione had taken her usual chair by the fireplace and still had that history book open. Students were playing Exploding Snap and Wizard Chess all around her but somehow she seemed to be tuning them all out and continued studying. Until that is, Seamus Finnegan happened.  
  
After Harry and the others finished their game, he walked right up to her unnoticed. He gazed at her for a second or two. He looked back at the rest of the Gryffindors who gave affirmative head nods.  
  
"Hermione Granger, I Seamus Finnegan of the Fun Police, hereby put you under arrest for being an old poop." he looked back and saw all his co- conspirators snickering madly. "Your punishment is to have fun all night." Quick as lighting Seamus had reached down and snatched the book from Hermione's hands, not even losing her place. "Deputy Officer Potter, please take this as evidence." Deputy Officer Potter walked over and took the book and put it behind his back. "Thank you, Officer Potter."  
  
"Now, Ms. Granger, it is time to start serving your punishment. Officers Creevey and Creevey, please escort the accused to the Exploding Snap table, please." They pulled a no longer resisting Hermione out of her chair and took her to the table.  
  
She grinned at the lot of them. "You guys are all insane, you know? Insane."  
  
"Aye, but what fun is it to be normal?" Seamus retorted.  
  
She sat in the chair that had recently held Harry. One last attempt to escape… "Harry, isn't this your chair? I don't want to take your spot."  
  
"Go ahead Hermione. I lost badly, so I lost my spot. I'll just sit one out and get back in in a few minutes." Harry flopped down in her chair and popped the book open to her place. "I'll just see if she took any notes…." he thought. He was quickly amazed at how far ahead she was in the book-over 200 pages. Sheesh.  
  
He read for the entire time Hermione was royally stomping Seamus in ES. "These were some horribly mean old bastards," he thought to himself on more than one occasion. One of the most evil that he'd read so far was an old French wizard who'd taken a boat full of people out into the channel for a supposed trip to Dover. He'd sunk the boat in mid channel, drowning them all and powering him through some twisted sacrifice. Harry shivered. Ooohh.  
  
The next one highlighted by Hermione was a local one. An English wizard who called himself Surtain was killed by his love in another twisted sacrifice under a full moon. As he was dying, he promised revenge. In some way or another, he didn't quite die but became a spirit. "Were they just all insane or evil back then or what?" Harry thought to himself. There were a few scribbled notes in the margin. "What's she say?" he asked himself as he read Hermione's script. Oh good. This supposedly happened somewhere on these grounds. "Maybe that's what is possessing my door and Aidan's wardrobe," he thought as he carefully closed her book. He had had enough schooling for one day and went to reclaim a place at the ES table.  
  
  
  
Nearly all the Gryffindors were having a good time that evening. Nearly all. The one important exception was Ron. He'd been sitting on the floor in an empty classroom with his knees drawn up to his chin for hours now, staring blankly at a wall, replaying what he'd seen in his mind's eye over and over. He thought he might have slept a bit but he really wasn't sure.  
  
Were they? No. Yes. Probably not. Maybe so. "That would explain why they've grown so close so quickly, wouldn't it?" his mind answered his questions. Ron felt as if he'd had a flaming sword jabbed in his chest. He hurt terribly. His world was collapsing like a sand castle at the tide line. He suddenly had to get out of this classroom. He got up and glanced out a window and saw that the sun had long since gone down and it appeared as it was starting to rain.  
  
"I should be hungry," he said aloud for no reason to a few tables and benches, "but I'm not." Ron peeked out the door and saw that the hallway was deserted.  
  
Not having any idea of where to go, just knowing not back to the common room, to Gryffindor Tower, to Harry and Colin. Harry and Colin. "Dammit," Ron cursed himself. He'd never said anything to Harry at all. But why would he? Harry was Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, not the Boy Who Was Gay, or so Ron had believed. He had waited too long, hidden his feelings from himself too long and now he'd missed his chance.  
  
His feet had started walking sometime during his mental ramblings. Ron stopped at a stairway and tried to figure out where he was. Somewhere near the Hufflepuff quarter, he finally decided. He walked a bit further and got lost in thoughts once again.  
  
"I don't know how much longer I can deal with this," he told a suit of armor as he passed it.  
  
"It is past time for all young rapscallions such as yourself to be in bed, knave," the suit answered him.  
  
Ron stopped, surprised that the armor talked back, then a bit mad for being called a rapscallion. "Rust, you," he replied to the uppity armor and walked on, sinking back into his mind's black mire.  
  
Pain. It seemed to grow the more he thought about Harry. Then if he tried to stop thinking about Harry, that hurt too. How he wished he could do something, anything to make it stop. Wait, he could. He glanced at his surroundings and recognized exactly where he was. It would seem that some part of him had known exactly where he was going all along. A painfully grim expression crossed his face as he considered his next move and he stopped for a second. After momentary consideration, he assuredly continued on.  
  
  
  
Back in the Gryffindor common room, the students had thrown an impromptu party. Fred and George had smuggled a few cases of butterbeer from Hogsmeade the day before and those were broken out. As much as Harry was annoyed by Dobby sometimes, he was glad he had a friend in the kitchen for times like these. Harry and the Creeveys brought jugs of pumpkin juice and cider as well as a few plates of snacks from the kitchen.  
  
A second year brought a radio that was bewitched as to need no batteries or electricity to the room and turned it on. Music filled the room and the party took off from there. (guess what music it was-- yep, country. Give me a big yee-haw!)  
  
There were the few wall flowers as are at all parties, but the majority of the students were dancing. Harry was finishing his glass of cider and a rogue thought crossed his mind. "I wish Ron was here now, he'd really enjoy this. It'd do him good, too." Harry set his glass down and went out to dance, or at least try to.  
  
Rain beat against the windows in time to the music. Everyone seemed to be having a good time. Neville was sitting by the wall laughing at Harry and Hermione as they attempted some sort of odd synchronized dance- thing with a few others.  
  
(A/N: I can't believe I'm going to do this)  
  
Seamus had sat out the last song and gotten a mug of butterbeer. He was quite winded but the butterbeer quenched his thirst. (A/N: oh god, someone stop me, please!) A new song came on, very upbeat. Something about 'not having to be me til Monday'. Seamus liked it already. (A/N: please don't make me do this) he glanced over and saw Neville against the wall nursing his drink. That was unacceptable party etiquette, and seeing as how he was the Law, he had to enforce it. (A/N: NOOOO!!) He tossed the mug into the fire and hopped over to Neville. He pulled the boy's arm and drug him out into the middle of the room and they danced. (A/N: I couldn't help it.) Neville looked very, very surprised but started laughing and dancing. Seamus was also greatly enjoying this and was grinning like a leprechaun. As the song was ending, Seamus pulled Neville in and dipped him like in fancy dances while Neville giggled uncontrollably.  
  
A new song started up, much slower than the last (A/N: I'm such a romantic wuss sometimes ;) ) Seamus pulled Neville up and looked at him softly.  
  
"Um, Seamus, this is a slow song, a really slow song. Should we still be dancing?" Neville asked, a bit scared.  
  
"Only if you really don't want to, Neville."  
  
"Lead on, Seamus," he replied without thinking. (A/N: I wasn't going to do that. I suck.) Seamus pulled him close and they danced, oblivious to the few surprised stares they were receiving. A few songs later, only one of which was a slow song (to Neville's chagrin), they sat down and rested for a bit and chatted each other up.  
  
The rest of the house was still having a grand old time. The Weasley twins were leading some odd dance around the room. Fun filled the air. Dennis was dancing with Hermione, and boy was he enjoying every second of that. Seamus and Neville talked above the din of the music. Finally, the party began to wind down about midnight and the students began heading to their dorms.  
  
The remaining students gathered around the fireplace and relaxed. Hermione wanded the radio off with a quick spell and sat back on the couch. Dennis was sitting on one side of her, with Neville and Seamus on the other. Harry was in a enormously huge and cushy chair with Colin and Aidan, the twins were asleep in front of the fire. This scene was almost perfect, save one person's absence and on some level, they all knew it. The seven of them talked until well past one when Colin had dozed off next to Harry and Dennis and Aidan had already headed off to bed, with Aidan joking on Dennis for oggling Hermione all night just loudly enough to be heard by the others.  
  
Colin began to slide off the side of the chair and Harry pulled him back upright and just kept his arm around him, enjoying the closeness. Colin leaned into him. A gigantic stroke of lightning lit the dimmed room like midday, causing the four awake to jump a bit.  
  
Neville yawned and looked at Seamus. "Come on, I'm tired."  
  
Seamus got up and nodded at Neville. He looked at Harry with the sleeping boy in his arms. "You two have a good night, now, eh?"  
  
"Go to bed Seamus, it's not like that," Harry replied.  
  
"Aye, of course it's not. Aye. Rubbish, Harry. Pure rubbish." Seamus jokingly shook his head as they went to the steps.  
  
So only he and Hermione were left in the room awake now. They chatted a bit more. Harry was planning on waking Colin up in a few minutes, but as he listened to the rain lightly beat on the glass, he was lulled like before. He pulled Colin a bit closer and joined him in sleep without even realizing it, leaving Hermione in mid thought.  
  
"Oh, Harry." Hermione said. She was looking at the two of them with a tear or three in her eyes. So beautiful together. She smiled at the sight and gently laid a blanket over them. "You of all people deserve this. I'm so happy for you. You've had so many hardships. Someday, Ron will come around, I know he will." She bent down and put a small kiss on Harry's forehead as well as Colin's. "I know he will."  
  
  
  
Ron walked on for another two floors and three hallways. There was one final tower to go, and he'd be there. Thunder shook the castle, he could feel the walls and floors vibrate a little. What a night for this, he thought. Fitting. Ron climbed the seemingly endless circular steps and finally came to the top. He pushed open the stout wooden door and walked onto the wind-swept observation deck of the Astronomy tower. The rain was coming in almost sideways at times, other times it felt like it was raining from the ground up. Ron looked up at the sky. Somewhere behind all those clouds was a full moon.  
  
Ron was becoming physically numb quickly. The driving rain had drenched him in seconds. He was feeling on the outside like he felt on the inside. Ron walked over to the edge and looked down. All the way down. He looked back up at the sky and was pelted with a bit of sleet as well as rain. He wiped his eyes absently and began climbing the small wall around the edge.  
  
Climbing it was a bit more difficult than normal with numb extremities, but he managed. He pulled himself up and surveyed the grounds for a final time. He looked where Gryffindor tower would be if it weren't for the rain. He looked at the Quiddich stadium. He looked back at the door, pausing to see if there were any last minute regrets, but his mind was silent for the first time in ages. Ron tensed his legs and swung his arms backwards and prepared to jump…..  
  
  
  
Oh boy. Here is the big cliffhanger. I hope you don't hate me too much for leaving it there. (evil laugh) I must consider my next move. I have too many ideas of what happens next. I apologize again about Seamus. I just couldn't resist the fuzzy teddy bear monster. Oh, in case you care, Seamus and Neville first danced to 'I Don't Have to be Me Til Monday' by Steve Azar. The more I hear it, the more it sounds like a Seamus song. Then, they slow danced to 'I'm Already There' by Lonestar. I have no backbone. Oh well, it'll maybe lighten the whole Ron suicidal thing. Check back and leave me your suggestions…. 


	16. A Spirit Intervenes

I still can't believe I did the Neville and Seamus thing. Oh well. So huggable though. I got a review (I think from teethshaver) saying something about Dean being in the girls dorm. Yeah, I guess that's where he is. He's there with Ginny. I've almost completely forgotten about them both. I like Ginny, she is a good character. Dean on the other hand I don't much care for. He just seems flat and boring. It probably doesn't help matters that I hate him for doing Seamus wrong in quite a few fics on FFN. One of my reviews for a story was me threatening to climb into Gryffindor and shoot Dean in the face after he banged one of the Quiddich girls in front of Seamus. With a bazooka, I think. If anyone knows that story, let me know. It is good, except for dean (who will sleep with Seamus but *isn't* gay.) well on with the show.  
  
Ron was readying himself to take the last step of his life. His mind was quiet, all of the pain had gone in the last few moments. He pin wheeled his arms back to get more momentum and bent his knees.  
  
"Ronald Weasley," a voice called in his head from seemingly nowhere. Ron nearly fell off the roof in fright. He looked around and saw no one. "It isn't your time to die."  
  
"Huh? Who said that?" Ron was looking around and still saw no one in the sheets of rain. "Show yourself," he challenged.  
  
"I cannot, and for that I apologize. Please come down," the voice in his head again said.  
  
"No! I'm going to end everything right now," he called into the howling wind.  
  
"I implore you, Ronald Weasley, step down please."  
  
"It hurts too much. I can't take it anymore," Ron cried, turning back to the edge.  
  
"I understand your pain, Ronald Weasley. Perhaps I can aid you."  
  
"How? How can you possibly understand what I'm feeling?"  
  
"Because I have been where you are now and have already taken the final step that you are now considering. I know, Ronald. I *know*"  
  
"You- you mean you--"  
  
"Yes Ronald. I did. Millennia ago. In a dark depression I took my own life when my love betrayed me. Please listen to me."  
  
Ron shivered, some from the cold and some from fear. "Come inside. You will soon catch ill out here," the voice called to him. The door to the astronomy tower swung open slowly, as if it was pulled open with great effort.  
  
Ron shook and shuddered his way back inside. He tossed his wet robes to a corner and tried to shake some of the water from his body.  
  
"You might want to create a fire in the fireplace, Ronald."  
  
"Yu-yeah, you're probably right." Ron took his wand and flames shot out and lit the fireplace. Ron sat down in front of it. "Who are you?" Ron asked the voice.  
  
"I'm a spirit of the moon."  
  
Ron screwed up his face in thought for a moment. Suddenly, he was almost positive that someone was trying to put one over on him. "Seriously. Who are you?"  
  
"I've told you. I'm a spirit of the moon."  
  
"Okay, that's enough. Fred! George! Come on out! Game's over." Ron sprung up from the hearth and began looking all around the room for his twin brothers.  
  
"Your brothers have nothing to do with me, Ronald Weasley. I predate them by over two millennia."  
  
"Oh, sure. A spirit just happens to call to me when I'm about to jump off the building. That's a mite convenient, eh?" Ron starts tossing chairs around and looking in all the closets.  
  
"I couldn't let you make the same error I made, Ronald Weasley. You must believe me."  
  
"Right. If you're a spirit of the moon, why are you in this bloody tower instead of the sky? Answer me that."  
  
"I am anchored to this spot, unable to rise to the skies."  
  
"Oh, puh-leeze. That is such utter garbage."  
  
"Then to prove that I am not one of your brothers' tricks to you, ask me something that they know not. Will that appease your doubts?"  
  
"Okay, I'll play." Ron was still looking around the room trying to hear snickers or anything. Seeing none, he started trying to think of a good question. He had one in under a minute. "Okay, *moon spirit*, here's one for you. Who do I love with all my heart?"  
  
Ron was smug. He was waiting for the *spirit* to say Hermione, or maybe Fleur. He wasn't worried about Fred or George knowing about Harry, since only Hermione and Seamus knew and they weren't the ones to tell something like that.  
  
"Harry Potter," the spirit answered immediately. Ron's jaw dropped almost to the ground.  
  
"Huh? You knew…."  
  
"I told you the truth, Ronald. I can see inside you."  
  
It appeared that Ron was coming to believe the spirit. "One more question."  
  
"You have to but ask it."  
  
"Why have I been here for five years and I've never heard of you before?"  
  
"I've been dormant for many years now. To be quite honest with you Ronald, I believe you awakened me."  
  
"I awakened you? How did I do that"  
  
"I believe that it is your powerful emotions. It was like being in a pitch black room when a powerful light is turned on."  
  
"My powerful emotions? You make it sound like I'm a crying little girl."  
  
"No, Ronald Weasley, that is not my intent. Powerful emotions aren't something relegated to females or to be hidden. They are wonderful things. They make life so much more vibrant. Many people would kill to be able to feel as you do, both the good and the bad."  
  
Ron's head was spinning. He was sitting in the astronomy tower in the early hours of Saturday morning listening to a spirit tell him about his powerful emotions. "This is getting quite interesting," he thought to himself. "So how long have you been here anyways?" he asked.  
  
"I saw the Romans come over two thousand years ago. I saw them leave. The Norse and the Saxons followed. Welsh, Irish, I've seen them all come and go."  
  
"Whoa," was all Ron could reply.  
  
"Before the Romans, I saw nomadic peoples. Before them, isolated tribes. I have been here since your recorded history began, and probably before that."  
  
"Whoa," Ron said again, sounding very much like Keanu Reeves in the Martrix.  
  
"So in all that time, have you been, um, awoken before?"  
  
"A handful of times. Mostly in passing. Never so close or so incredibly strong as last year."  
  
"You've not felt Harry Potter? He has strong emotions, too. He's been through a lot."  
  
"No, I haven't. Experiences alone won't give you powerful emotions. They are something that you either have, or in most peoples' case, don't have."  
  
This was surprising to Ron to say the least. Here was something that Harry couldn't do, or couldn't have. He puffed his wet chest out a little.  
  
"I can feel your heavy mind, Ronald, would you care to unburden it? I will help you in any way I can."  
  
Ron deeply thought about the offer. Here was his chance. He wouldn't have to go to a teacher and probably get sent off to St. Mungo's. Why not? He already felt a little better just talking to the spirit in the first place. Maybe he could get over his jealousy and get back to being friends with Harry.  
  
"How could you help me, spirit?"  
  
"I was once a wise shaman in my tribe. Helping people was what I did. Would you like me to help you as well?"  
  
"I think that would be a good idea. You aren't going to go and tell everyone once we're finished here, right?"  
  
"Even if I desired to, I couldn't, Ronald Weasley. I don't believe any one else could be receptive to me."  
  
"As in they wouldn't be able to hear you?"  
  
"Exactly," the spirit said. "I will be here always. You have to but come to me."  
  
"Where should I begin?" Ron asked the spirit.  
  
"The beginning of your problems is always a good place to start," the spirit said.  
  
Ron began recounting every detail about the day they flew to Newhaven and continued. He talked until nearly three in the morning. He had told the spirit everything. His uncontrolled rage, cursing Draco in Diagon Alley, everything. The spirit asked all the right questions and most importantly listened to every word. By the time he was finished, he felt like a brand new person. A brand new, very tired person.  
  
"You are near exhaustion. You should return to your dormitory and rest."  
  
"I think that (yawn) you are right." Ron pulled himself up and picked up his nearly dry robes. "You said I could come back anytime, right?"  
  
"Anytime, Ronald Weasley. I'm not going anywhere."  
  
"Was that a joke?" he asked the spirit.  
  
"A small one." Ron was sure that if the spirit had a face, it was grinning a bit.  
  
"One more thing before I go," he called out "I feel a bit odd calling you *spirit* (A/N: plus I can't seem to ever spell it right). Do you have a name?"  
  
"My tribe once called me Surtain. Will that work for you?"  
  
"That will be fine. I'll talk to you again soon, Surtain."  
  
"Goodnight, Ronald Weasley."  
  
Ron tossed his robes over his shoulder and walked out the door. He looked alive again. More important, he felt alive again. After the door closed, a silver circle glimmered on the hard polished stone of the Astronomy Tower, chasing itself like the lights on some restaurants.  
  
  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~Meanwhile, back in the Gryffindor common room, sometime during Ron's monologue ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Hot. Oh goodness. Get away from it. A small hand wipes sweat off its owner's forehead. Colin woke up drenched in sweat. It felt like he was sitting in the fireplace. He opened one eye and checked just to be sure. Nope, he was still sitting in the chair with Harry and was curled up against him. The fire had burnt to embers. The grandfather clock said it was just after two in the morning. He closed his eye and tried to go back to sleep. Holy cow. Colin reached a hand down and pulled the blanket off himself. That didn't seem to help.  
  
Colin felt like he'd just gotten out of a sauna with all his clothes on. He opened his eyes, both this time, and glanced at Harry. He seemed to be completely dry, except for where Colin's head had been. He glanced up at Harry's face and saw an orange glow emanating from under his shirt, illuminating his neck. That seemed to be what was so bloody hot.  
  
"Harry. Harry!" Colin was shaking Harry, trying to wake him up.  
  
"No, I don't want to mix that potion, Professor," was the reply Colin got.  
  
"Harry, wake up. I think you're on fire or something." He shook Harry harder. Finally he came around.  
  
"Is it morning already?"  
  
"No, look at your shirt." Harry did. Seeing the glow, he reached into his shirt and pulled out the stone. Colin yelped, expecting Harry to get burned badly, but he didn't. He pulled it out and looked at it. It was all aglow.  
  
"Isn't that hot, Harry? It feels like I'm sitting next to a furnace."  
  
"No, I'm fine. It feels a little warm, that's all. Like it always has."  
  
As Harry was examining it, the glow suddenly went out and the heat Colin talked about left. "Well, it was hot. Now it's fine again," Colin said.  
  
"I wonder what the bloody hell that was about. Definitely odd."  
  
"Let's worry about it in the morning," Colin answered, already getting tired again.  
  
"I agree." Harry put the stone back under his shirt and settled back down. The two dozed back to sleep in the chair.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ Back to everyone's favorite redhead ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Ron practically hopped back to the dormitory. He was so refreshed, so alive, so un-depressed. He popped into the room and saw the two sleeping boys in the chair. Earlier his response would have been to cry or get angry. This time it was the old Ron. He smiled at the two of them and put the cover back over them. He stepped back and looked at the two of them for a few moments. He felt like a father looking at his children. So happy for them. He honestly did feel good about seeing them like that. Whatever Surtain did sure did work.  
  
Ron tucked Colin in a bit more and ran a hand across the boy's cheek. He noticed the room had picked up a chill so he relit the fire. Still smiling, he went up the steps to his dormitory.  
  
Tomorrow was going to be a great day, he just knew it. Just like the old days.  
  
  
  
Seems like everything's turned out okay, doesn't it? Is Old Ron back? He might be. But that would be too simple wouldn't it? Do you really think that I'd let them all get off so easily? Bah. If you think things were weird before, just stand by. (Actually, I needed a break from all the angst) I would love to type for hours more, but I have to go to work this morning. (dammit) I've not beta-read this chapter due to time constraints, so if it is terrible, bear with me and I'll fix it tonight. Read and review as always!!!! 


	17. Fixed and Broken

Finally I get to put another chapter up. The world has conspired against me. Evil people. Oh well, better late than never I guess. This story has had to battle for playing time in my head against three other upcoming stories. Let's just say that there will be a bunch of writing in the near future, two of which are (get ready for this) NEW IDEAS ON FFN!!! (as far as I know, and I've checked) can you believe it? Originality on a fan fiction site. Who'd a thunk it?? I can't wait!!! I'll just have to get past the upcoming Neville/Seamus fluff chapter and the Mandatory Quiddich Chapter and then we'll see what happens.  
  
One hundred points to anyone who knows what song Ron is singing. Another hundred points for a picture of Hugh Mitchell. On with the show.  
  
It was a sunny early fall morning. The sun just started coming in through the windows and fell on Ron's bed. He woke up and found that he felt just as good as he did last night. He looked at the clock on his nightstand. Tiny orange-clad quiddich players were swirling around in formation and displayed the time as 8:30. He yawned and thought that he ought to be tired, since he only got to bed a few hours earlier.  
  
Ron stretched and strained and decided it was time to get up. He tried to make a smooth jump to the floor but his feet got tangled in the blankets and instead of the perfect ten pose, he landed in a loud heap next to Seamus' bed.  
  
"Oh, bloody hell," he exclaimed, causing Seamus to poke his head out of the tangle of blankets and squint at the cause of his awakening.  
  
"Ron mate, why exactly are you stomping about at this time of morning?"  
  
"I'm sorry Seamus, I sort of fell out of bed and well, fell." Ron was laughing as he said that. This definitely caught the Irish boy's attention.  
  
"Ron, are you okay?"  
  
"Actually Seamus, I don't think I've felt better in a long time. I think the old Ron is back, Seamus. Get up and let's go get some breakfast."  
  
Seamus looked at Ron as if he had asparagus sprouting from his nose and large horns on his head. "Ron, some of us normal people choose *not* to get up quite so early on weekends. How about you go ahead and I'll get breakfast at lunchtime."  
  
"Suit yourself, Seamus. The early bird gets the worm, you know."  
  
"That's what separates us from lower species, Ron. They eat worms, we eat biscuits," Seamus said in total deadpan.  
  
"Well, then I'll bring you back a biscuit or two then."  
  
"You do that Ron. Just bring it back later." Ron was almost skipping as he walked to the dorm room door, glancing at the spot where Dean's bed was before he moved to the girls' dorm.  
  
"Oh, Seamus, have you seen Harry this morning?" he asked looking at Harry's drawn curtains.  
  
"I can assure you that he isn't under here, Ron. I've checked it quite thoroughly. He's probably still asleep in the common room. Now go get those worms."  
  
"Thanks, Seamus." Ron bounced out the door and started singing. "Man, I don't know where the time goes but it sure goes fast, just like that…"  
  
"Who was that?" a sleepy voice called from under the sheets a few seconds later  
  
"Ah, that was bloody Ron. Something about getting worms for breakfast or something. I don't know."  
  
"He sounded happy, didn't he Seamus?"  
  
"Yeah, he did. Maybe things are going to get back to normal around here."  
  
"I sure hope so. I don't think I can tip toe under the volcano anymore," Neville said. "Are we going to get up now?" he asked.  
  
"Of course not. We're sleeping in today." Seamus pulled the covers back over his head and returned to snuggling.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ In the girl's dorms at about the same time ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Hermione awoke to snoring. Deep snoring. Deep loud snoring. She looked over and saw where it was coming from. Dean Thomas. Why he was in this dorm, she knew not. She looked up to the author and he only shrugged. Great. She pulled on her robes and decided to go on down to breakfast since she was obviously not going back to sleep with Mr. Chainsaw in her room.  
  
She threw a withering glance at Dean's bed and another at the author. She barely dodged a size 10 Nike thrown at her from nowhere and headed out the door. Although the sun had begun to come up, it was still cool in the castle so she pulled her robes around her a little more. She stepped into the common room and knelt down to light the fire again. That would warm it up until the sun took over. She looked over at Harry and Colin and saw that they had hardly moved all night. Colin was still curled up against Harry with an arm across his chest. Hermione smiled. She jumped with surprise when a door behind shut and someone thundered down the steps. She looked up and saw a mop of red hair and heard a voice that was unmistakably Ron's singing something.  
  
  
  
"Oh No!" she thought. He'll see them and….  
  
"We were wannabe rebels that didn't have a clue, in our rock and roll t-shirts and typically bad attitudes…" he stopped singing and looked her way. "Morning, Hermione. Beautiful day, isn't it?" Ron asked her, gesturing to the windows.  
  
"Uh, yeah it is. Quite." Hermione was looking at the two sleeping boys and then over at Ron.  
  
"Wanna get some breakfast? I'm famished." he looked at Harry and Colin and added, "I'd wake them, but they look too cute now."  
  
Hermione was stunned. He just said 'cute' about Harry and Colin. What the???  
  
"Hello, earth to Hermione? Are you hungry?" Ron was bubbling over.  
  
"Oh, hungry, yes I am. Let's go get breakfast." they walked out the door and into the hallway. "This will be an interesting breakfast," she thought to herself, hoping that things might be better, but not betting the farm on it.  
  
The two of them sat down and began eating their large stacks of pancakes and biscuits. Ron lived for Saturday mornings. He would usually eat at least a dozen pancakes, and these aren't the little bitty ones you get at Denny's, these are manly pancakes. Hermione broke the silence a minute or so into the meal.  
  
"So Ron, how are you feeling today?"  
  
"I feel absolutely awesome," he said pausing just long enough to say that before stuffing his mouth again.  
  
"So what exactly is the cause of the overnight transformation?"  
  
"Well, I was walking last night and I had a long talk with someone."  
  
"See! I told you that it would help if you talked to Dumbledore. He is so--"  
  
"I didn't talk to Dumbledore, Hermione," Ron said with a mouthful.  
  
"Well then, McGonagall is just as smart--"  
  
"It wasn't her either."  
  
"Well then Ron, who was it?"  
  
"Actually, I'd rather not say. It worked, and that's the important thing, right?"  
  
"Yeah, I guess it is." Who was it?? "So are you the old Ron again?"  
  
Ron put his fork down and looked at her very thoughtfully for a moment. "I hope so, Hermione. No, I *know* so. I've put all that behind me now. Once I got it off my chest, it seemed so trivial and silly."  
  
"Well I'm glad to hear that you talked to someone, whoever it was. Are you going to make up with Harry?"  
  
Ron looked at his plate for a minute and Hermione was sorry she said it immediately. Ron looked back up and said "Yes. Yes I am. Will you tell him I want to talk to him?"  
  
"Yes! I mean, sure. When?"  
  
"How about in an hour, out by the lake?"  
  
"Alright. I'll tell him. I think he'll come, Ron."  
  
"Me too. Are you going to eat that?"  
  
"No, you go ahead." Ron ate the rest of her pancakes. "Oh, will you take these back to Seamus, please?" He handed her two biscuits and set off, more singing trailing away, "knew already there was nothing to learn, striking matches just to watch them burn…" Hermione crossed her fingers and knocked on the table and got up and headed back to the tower.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ While Ron and Hermione finish breakfast ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Seamus and Neville finally roused themselves out of bed. It was decided that a shower was a must for both of them before breakfast. After the de- stinking operation was over, they headed down to the common room once they'd put clothes on. A few others had begun to straggle into the room by then. A number of the younger students were heading to breakfast and the older ones were chatting by the fire.  
  
"Morning Harry, Colin," Seamus called to the two newly-awakened duo.  
  
"Good morning," they replied.  
  
"Ah, Harry, have you seen Ron this morning?" Seamus asked out of the blue.  
  
"No, why?"  
  
"Well, he seemed, um, I guess the word is, um-?  
  
"Normal. Like he used to be," Neville finished.  
  
"Really?" Harry asked in a 'I bet there's a joke here' kind of way.  
  
"Seriously. He was laughing and in good spirits. He didn't even look anything like he did yesterday, he looked alive." Seamus said.  
  
"Well, maybe he's got his act together then," Harry replied, a bit pleased and his voice showed it.  
  
The portrait swung open just then and admitted a galloping Hermione. "Harry, I have to talk to you!! It's about Ron!"  
  
All four heads turned to her as she skidded to a halt in front of them. "I think Ron is Ron again." she looked at Harry. "Seriously. He wants to put everything right between you guys."  
  
"I don't know, Hermione. What if it goes like it did last time he apologized?" Harry said, remembering the time in the Burrow.  
  
"I believe him, Harry. I really do."  
  
"I just don't know, Hermione." Harry looked at her and she could read him easily. He wanted to believe her badly, but couldn't quite do it.  
  
"Harry," Colin tugged on his sleeve, "Do it." Colin also read Harry easily. "It'll be good for the two of you." Colin climbed out of the chair and headed to the dorms.  
  
"Where are you going Colin?" Harry called.  
  
"I'm going to get a shower. You sweated me pretty bad last night, remember?"  
  
"Oh yeah, but I want you to come with me, Colin. If Ron's going to apologize, he's going to apologize to you as well. Come with me, please?"  
  
"Harry, just go."  
  
"No, I'll wait right here. Get a shower and change up. Then we'll go."  
  
"Fine." Colin said that a bit dejectedly.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ In the Bathrooms ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Colin dropped his robes and his underclothes on the floor by his shower stall. He stepped in, closed the curtain, and turned on the water. Within a minute steam had filled the cubicle and was billowing over the top. He thought that he might be okay. Then his tears joined the water flowing down his face. He crossed his arms over his chest and knelt on the tiled floor and leaned against a wall. "This is it. They are going to patch things up and that's it for me." He pulled his arms in tighter. "Harry wouldn't do that, would he? No, probably not. Maybe. Probably, since the two of them have been friends for five years now, and just five weeks for Harry and I. I'm not good enough for him, I know that. I guess it was fun while it lasted."  
  
  
  
Colin had his moment in the shower and then had a few more. He finally stepped out and dried off. He changed back in his room and did a quick spell to get the red from his eyes and walked down to the common room. Seamus, Neville and Hermione were down there with Harry. "Ready to go, Harry?" he asked.  
  
Harry stood up and smiled at him. Colin's heart sunk. He sure was ready. "Are you sure I should go, Harry?"  
  
"Yes, you should, now come on."  
  
"Come on you two, I'll take you to him." Hermione said as they walked to the door. "Oh, Seamus, I almost forgot. These are for you." she reached in her pockets and pulled out two biscuits.  
  
"Oh, bonus," he exclaimed and took them, giving one to Neville.  
  
They strolled down to the lake and saw the red headed boy waiting for them, sitting on a rock in the warming sun. Harry took a deep breath and walked over to him. The others were in step with him.  
  
"I guess I'll leave you boys alone now," Hermione said, shying away.  
  
"No, I'd like you to stay, Hermione," Ron said. Harry shook his head in agreement.  
  
"Ron, this had better not be a waste of our time," Harry said not as rough as he meant to.  
  
"No, I promise, it isn't. Harry, I--" he glanced at Hermione for a bit of moral support, "Harry, I want to say that I'm sorry. I know that won't take back or make up for all the things I've said and done recently, but I hope that you can somehow forgive me. I'd do anything to make it up to you."  
  
"So what's changed you, Ron?" he asked  
  
"I talked to a very wise person last night, no, not Hermione," he said, seeing Harry's gaze shift to her.  
  
"Who was it then?"  
  
"I'd rather not say if you don't mind." Harry looked puzzled but a look from Hermione told him not to pursue the matter further now.  
  
"Now, could I talk to you alone for a minute in private Colin," Ron asked.  
  
"Sure, he said after getting a reassuring glance from Harry. They walked down to the lake shore leaving Harry and Hermione standing on pins and needles.  
  
"Colin, I wish I knew why I said those things to you and about you. I was jealous of you and Harry's friendship. I was scared of losing him. He's very important to me, you know, he's my best friend. I'd do anything to take back all that's happened. I'd do anything to have you forgive me."  
  
"Then never hurt Harry again. Ever."  
  
"You have my word Colin, I swear it." They started walking back to the other two.  
  
"So are we all on good terms again?" Hermione asked, hoping.  
  
"Yeah, I guess we are," Harry said. Ron smiled and loosed a few rogue tears and Colin nodded affirmatively. Hermione was nearly hopping up and down.  
  
"Why don't we get some lunch?" She asked. A chorus of 'sures' answered her.  
  
"Hermione, you and Colin go on ahead, I need to talk to Ron for just a minute," Harry said.  
  
"Okay, sure," she replied. Colin just nodded and turned and looked at the ground as they walked away.  
  
Once they were out of earshot, Harry said, "Ron, I have to know, is this for real?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"You're sure?"  
  
"I promise Harry."  
  
"Colin is very important to me, Ron. I don't know if you can understand that, but he is."  
  
"I do understand. You love him. I understand perfectly."  
  
"You're okay with that, right?"  
  
"Of course, why wouldn't I be?"  
  
"I thought, that-- maybe, well, maybe you knew how I felt for him and that was part of what set all this off."  
  
"Maybe subconsciously that was part of it, that it was him. Not because he was a he though."  
  
"Okay then," Harry said, glad that Ron took it much better than he expected, "One last thing."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Remember how you said you'd do anything to have me forgive you?"  
  
"Uh huh…."  
  
"Well, here it is. Never hurt Colin again. Not one more time, not ever." Harry made a sweeping gesture with his arms to emphasize the point.  
  
"I swear it Harry."  
  
"Then let's go get some lunch." Harry put his arm over Ron's shoulder in true friend style and they headed to meet the other two.  
  
Colin had stopped and watched the two of them and had seen the sweeping gesture and then the arm. They were over. Harry and Ron were back. Harry and Colin were over. He held back a tear and started walking again. Harry and Ron jogged to catch them and they proceeded to the Great Hall.  
  
  
  
Ah, that was a sweet chapter. Are Harry and Ron back on terms? Boy, does Colin have some serious issues… things might get even more angst-y soon…. Well, as always, drop a review. It's fast, it's simple, and it's free!!!! 


	18. A Dragon's Ploy

Once again this isn't what I set out to write. It was going to be the Seamus-and-Neville-fluffy-time chapter, but this happened instead. Colin might be about to something very, very, I repeat, very stupid. Read on. And drop me a line.  
  
Harry and Ron were in high spirits as they walked back to the Great Hall. It was as if the two of them had had never been apart. Someone threw the `buddy switch' to the on position. They joked and laughed and carried on. Hermione was strutting like mother hen, so excited that she might just explode and rain warm fuzzies all over the place. Colin seemed to be immune to the good feelings around him. He was walking a few steps behind the two boys and he saw how much they missed each other.  
  
Colin was berating himself as he walked. Did he really think that Harry would spend time with him now? Of course not. He was nothing but a replacement. How could he have missed it before? "Oh, Harry!" he nearly cried out. His first real friend had just walked out. Colin wasn't sure why Harry didn't just tell him to shove off now, but he guessed it was because Harry was too nice to be mean to him.  
  
The group entered the castle and made their way to the Hall. People along the way stopped what they were doing and watched as they passed. The Boy Who Lived and His Best Friend coming through, please. Make way. With them was Harry's Other Best Friend and behind them was The Boy Who Had Nothing. Please don't stare. You could almost feel the happiness in the Gryffindors as they walked into the Hall. All that was missing was a big standing ovation at the sight of them together.  
  
They took their seats at the table like the Gryffindor Royal Family. Ron took Colin's normal spot on Harry's right, with Hermione on his left. He sat beside her and withstood the onslaught of tears for the time. Roast beef appeared on their plates a minute later and Harry and Ron dug in. Hermione ate like a lady, albeit a hungry lady. Colin just picked at his and watched the others. "Just like it used to be," he thought to himself. "Here I am, on the outside watching others have a good time."  
  
Colin put his fork down and sighed. Harry was completely ignoring him, another sign that they were over with. He gave one more look that way and got up from the table, struggling with his emotions. He bumped Hermione and she spilled a bit of her juice.  
  
"I'm sorry, Hermione. I didn't mean it."  
  
"Oh, it's okay, Colin. Where are you going? You've barely touched your lunch."  
  
"I don't feel so well. I think I'll go see Madame Pomphrey."  
  
"Okay, I hope you feel better." she turned back to the others.  
  
Colin couldn't seem to get out of the Hall fast enough. He knew that everyone was staring at him and pointing and probably laughing. He was walking with his head down directly for the door. He shot through it a short time later and was tearing down a hallway still not bothering to look up. He passed Transfigurations at about mach 3. He was walking aimlessly. In no time he had reached the Gryffindor common room.  
  
He went in and was relieved to see that the room was empty. Everyone was playing in the sunshine or at lunch it seemed. He pulled a chair up near the window and just gazed out over the grounds. He was great for one second and the next it was like the dam had burst. He was sobbing loudly. It was so unfair. Life was taunting him, it seemed. He had everything he wanted and then the rug was pulled form under him. "It must be my lot in life to suffer," he said to the room once he had regained a bit of control.  
  
"Are you quoting Star Wars again, Colin?" a voice called from the steps, a voice that sounded very familiar.  
  
Colin looked up and saw Aidan coming down the steps carrying two broomsticks. "Oh, hello, Aidan. What are you doing in here?"  
  
"I was about to ask you the same thing. It's too pretty to be inside. I came in to get mine and Dennis' broomsticks. We're going to fly for a bit. Now why are you in here?"  
  
"I just want to be alone for awhile. I don't think I feel too good."  
  
"Then you should go to the infirmary."  
  
"They can't fix what's wrong with me down there."  
  
Perplexed, Aidan asked, "What do you mean they can't fix it? Madame Pomphrey is a great witch. She can fix anything."  
  
"I'm not sick, I just hurt inside," Colin replied.  
  
"Anything you want to talk about?" Aidan asked.  
  
Colin wasn't about to talk about how he was just dumped by Harry to his brother's best friend, so he just said, "No, not really. Thanks anyway."  
  
"You really should come out with us, you'll feel better," Aidan told him, trying to get Colin to stop moping.  
  
"Maybe a little later. Not right now."  
  
"Alright, we'll be out there for awhile if you change your mind." Aidan headed out the door and Colin was once again alone. Colin got up out of the chair and paced the room. Aidan was right about one thing. It was too pretty to be in here. If he was going to mope, he'd do it outside. Colin headed out the door and walked in typical brooding fashion, head down, intently studying the floor and his own thoughts.  
  
He wanted to blame Ron for all this so badly, but he just couldn't quite do it. The two of them had been friends long before Colin joined the picture. He kept replaying the scenes of the morning over in his head. Did Harry want him to go so he wouldn't have to explain anything to Colin? That did make sense, didn't it? He would let Colin see for himself and not have to hurt Colin anymore than necessary.  
  
He was deep in thought when his forward progress was abruptly checked. He fell to the ground in a heap and uttered a small `Oomph.' He looked up and saw another person staggering backwards, holding his stomach as if the wind had been knocked from him. A mess of silver hair was what he saw first, that and Slytherin robes. "Great, just great, Draco Malfoy," he thought. He had never had any real problems with Draco, he had mostly left Colin alone, instead concentrating on Ron and Hermione and of course Harry.  
  
"Oh, a Gryffindor. Wonderful." Draco pushed his hair back into place. "Why don't you---" he broke off. "Wait a minute, you're Potter's little beau aren't you? Creepey isn't it?"  
  
"No I'm not, and it's *Creevey*, not `Creepey', Malfoy."  
  
Draco was a bit surprised at the revelation. Not Harry's beau anymore? "Well, isn't that interesting. Last I heard, you two were getting married and having children. What happened? Did you realize he was garbage and left him?"  
  
"Harry is not Garbage!!!" Colin screamed from the floor. "Don't you talk about him that way, Draco Malfoy, not ever!" Draco was completely taken aback by the outburst. It was like he had just poked a pissed off and cornered wolverine with a stick and barely avoided losing a hand. He liked this kid's fire. Maybe he could use that to his advantage.... A plan quickly formed in his mind.  
  
Faking sincerity perfectly, he apologized to Colin. "I'm sorry. I'm not sure what came over me there." then, he crossed his mental fingers and continued. "You seem more than a little upset, Colin, what happened?"  
  
Colin wasn't sure why Malfoy was being civil to him, but before he could stop himself from talking to a *Slytherin*, his tumultuous emotions boiled over and he started talking. "He and Ron got back together today. I'm back out of the picture." Colin looked back down at his feet.  
  
"That horrible Weasel. He always ruins things." he looked at Colin with the perfectly sympathetic face. "You know, Harry and I might have been friends if it weren't for him."  
  
Colin wasn't quite sure if he should believe Draco or not. He said nothing, so he continued. "Yes, it is all Weasley's fault. He unfairly prejudiced Harry against me when we first got here." Draco of course left out the part about him insulting Ron before sorting, but hey, Colin wasn't there to know about that.  
  
"Is that why you're so horrible to them all the time now?" Colin asked.  
  
"Mostly. If it weren't for Weasley, who knows what would have happened. But for him, I'm in Slytherin, have no meaningful friends, and have to deal with Weasley and Granger."  
  
Was *Malfoy* opening up to him here in the hallway? Colin wasn't sure what to say to that. He had a well of harsh feelings for Ron that was quickly filling, like a spring downpour.  
  
Malfoy saw exactly what he was looking for when he looked down into Colin's face. Confusion and anger toward Ron. Good. He went in to seal the deal. "I can hardly believe I'm saying this, but it seems that I have something in common with a Gryffindor. Actually, someone. Ron has turned both of our worlds on their ear, hasn't he, Colin?"  
  
Colin took the bait. "You're right. He has messed things up a lot."  
  
"Well young Gryffindor," he said as he offered a hand to help Colin up, touching a tad bit more than might normally be needed. "You'd best be off, you wouldn't want to be seen talking to me." Draco looked around the hallway, daring any of the passing first years to say anything. Colin got to his feet and Draco smiled as he ruffled Colin's hair and started to move off.  
  
"Mal--Draco, we have another thing in common, you know," Colin burst out before he knew it.  
  
Draco turned around and looked back, hopeful. "What's that?"  
  
"Neither of us has any friends now."  
  
"Well, maybe we can do something about that, eh?" Draco gave a half salute and strolled down the hallway.  
  
Colin wasn't sure exactly how he felt now. He had just fraternized with the `enemy' and found him to be not completely detestable. He also liked Draco's soft hands on him. He wandered out to the grounds thinking about many things.  
  
Draco Malfoy on the other hand, felt absolutely grand. He had to work fast, though. If his scheme worked out, he'd get them all at once. Potter, Weasel, Granger, oh hell, all of them. Oh, the joy of it all. Even if he had to resort to, well, batting lefty for a bit, it would be worth it in the end. He changed directions and instead of going to the dungeons and the Slytherin common room, he headed off somewhere different. He had bigger fish to fry.  
  
Haven't heard much from Draco, have we now? He's just too good an antagonist to leave out. What's gonna happen??? I guess you'll have to check back soon.... 


	19. The Ploy Unfolds

I had begun to rethink the whole Colin/Draco thing because I simply didn't want to write it, but I ground it out over the course of today. It's not over yet, but I can only harm my favorite character so much in one sitting. Oh, I also realized that I've been misspelling the nurse all along. I now know it's `Pomfrey'. my bad. I should just keep the books by my computer for reference. Anyway, come along then....  
  
"I'm sorry, Hermione. I didn't mean it."  
  
"Oh, it's okay, Colin. Where are you going? You've barely touched your lunch."  
  
"I don't feel so well. I think I'll go see Madame Pomfrey."  
  
"Okay, I hope you feel better." she turned back to the others. She was simply watching as Harry and Ron caught back up with each other. You would have thought that they'd been apart forever instead of a handful of weeks. Well, they weren't even actually apart, she thought. Just being stupid boys. Two extremely hardheaded and bullish boys. They might not admit it to anyone but themselves, but being apart like they were was killing them both inside.  
  
Lunch proceeded on with all sorts of Gryffindors coming by and basking in the energy flowing off Harry and Ron. Hermione felt it. It was like standing next to a gigantic electric transformer. She was afraid to pick her fork back up, scared that it might shock her. As lunch finished up, there were so many people standing around their table that she was nearly excluded from any conversation that took place. She felt left out.  
  
A shock hit her, not from her fork or other utensil, but from her last thought. Left out. Oh my god! She could have smacked herself, but there wasn't enough room. That's why he left! He wasn't sick at all. Oh, why hadn't she figured it out sooner? Well, she was caught up in the return of the friendship just like everyone else. Except Colin. He hadn't said a word while he was in here and he didn't eat hardly anything. Now that she thought back, he did look a bit broken up. Oh darn it all.  
  
"Harry," she called over the din. "Harry!!" she was not getting any response since all the people around where talking at once. She reached over and punched him hard in the shoulder.  
  
"Oh bloody hell, Hermione, what was that for?" he replied.  
  
"Look around you. Who isn't here?" Harry scanned the crowd, the frantic look on his face told her that he picked up on her question.  
  
"Where'd he go?" he asked her, leaning closer, pushing George Weasley out of the way to do so.  
  
"He said he was sick and left lunch about two minutes after we got here. About when the table started getting very, very crowded."  
  
"Oh no!" Harry had a horrid look on his face. "I don't think I've said a word to him since the lake. I don't even want to know what he must have thought of all this. No, I bet I know exactly what he thought."  
  
"What do you mean?" Hermione asked him.  
  
"Colin has a big abandonment problem Hermione."  
  
"Then I bet that is why he took off. He thought that you were going to forget about him since you and Ron made up," Hermione said.  
  
"That is the absolute last thing that I'd do. Oh Colin...I've got to find him."  
  
"I'm going to help you," Hermione said.  
  
"What's going on?" Ron had come over and knelt beside them.  
  
"Colin's gone," Harry and Hermione told him.  
  
"I'll help you too."  
  
"Actually, Ron, that might not be such a good idea," Hermione said to him. Ron looked hurt for a second and then it made sense.  
  
"Alright, what can I do then?"  
  
"Well Ron, you could check in the infirmary in the off chance that he went there after all. Just check on him, don't try to do anything," Hermione said.  
  
"Good idea. Will you do that Ron?" Harry asked him.  
  
"Of course."  
  
"Then let's go." the three of them headed out at a brisk walk and went their separate ways, Ron to the infirmary, Hermione to Gryffindor tower, and Harry everywhere else.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Now, to a certain Slytherin ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
After the exchange with Colin, Draco had gone back into the dungeons to change out of his robes into something a bit more appropriate for the matter at hand. He came back out in black jeans and a green and white shirt. Draco had shrunk it just a tad with a spell, getting the exact look he was going for.  
  
He was strolling the corridors hoping to find the young Gryffindor, as he now thought of him. He was looking down a hallway and turned back around just in time to be blindsided by a rapidly moving blur. He fell down, along with the blur. He looked up and saw none other than Harry Potter trying to get to his feet.  
  
"I seem to be making a habit of this today," he said to Harry. Harry looked at him funny, having no idea of what he was talking about. "Where are you off to in such a hurry, Potter?"  
  
"Not that it is any business of yours, *Malfoy*, but I'm looking for Colin."  
  
"Why? You've got the Weasel back at your side again, so why would you need him anymore?"  
  
"I guess that some things are just not meant to ever be understood by a Slytherin, Malfoy." Harry dusted off his robes and took off back down the hall.  
  
"Oh, I understand very well, Potter, very well indeed," Draco said softly to Harry's retreating form. "I figured that you'd not do Colin that way, you self-righteous bastard. This is going to be even better than I first thought." Draco dusted himself off and started walking again. "Instead of the proverbial punch to the stomach, this will be the dagger to the heart," he thought. "Now if I were a broken-hearted Gryffindor, where would I be?" he asked himself as he headed down the hall. He got his answer after interrogating a few second year Hufflepuffs he came across a minute later and set off for the lake side. "If I can pull this off, Potter..." he said aloud as he walked out of the building.  
  
Ron made his way to the infirmary rather quickly, knowing the way quite well since he'd visited Harry there on many a day. When he arrived, he found that Madam Pomfrey had stepped out for a bit. He peeked his head in and saw many an empty bed. He walked completely in and saw only two people in the entire wing, neither of them being Colin.  
  
"Can I help you, Mr. Weasley?" a voice asked from behind him, scaring the daylights out of him.  
  
After he settled back on the ground, he turned and saw the nurse right behind him. "Oh, maybe you can. Has Colin Creevey been down here at all today?" he asked, hopeful.  
  
"No, he hasn't. It's actually been quite slow. No injuries, just two sick. That'll change soon enough though, once the quiddich season starts up again and it gets colder." She looked like she was relishing the thought of sick kids. Ron chose to leave while she imagined children on stretchers with broken limbs and vomiting everywhere. He left the hospital wing, shivering, and decided to just roam the halls, hoping he'd get lucky.  
  
(A/N: I'm not big on nurses. They always seem to be a bit strange, way too happy in their own little world, wishing they were doctors or something and not having to take temperatures and the like.)  
  
Hermione went to the common room in the Gryffindor tower as quickly as she could. When she got there, it was mostly empty. Seamus and Neville were sitting on the couch playing Exploding Snap with Aidan and a very muddy Dennis.  
  
"Have you all seen Colin?" she asked the group.  
  
She got three no's from Seamus and Neville and Dennis, but a yes from Aidan.  
  
"How long ago? Do you know where he went?"  
  
"It was probably, well, about an hour ago I guess. I came in to get our brooms and he was sitting by the window."  
  
"Was he okay?"  
  
"Well, he seemed really sad over something. He wouldn't tell me what it was though, so I went back out with the brooms."  
  
"How long have you been back in here?"  
  
"Gee, maybe twenty minutes," Dennis added. "I sort of fell in the mud. We came in to change and met these two here and started playing."  
  
Any other time, a very muddy Dennis would have been funny, but not now.  
  
"Hermione, what's with all the questions?" Neville asked her.  
  
"We all kinda ignored him this morning when Harry and Ron made up, and no one's seen him since. I'm worried and Harry's beside himself."  
  
"Oh my. That definitely isn't good. He's a rather volatile lad, he is," Seamus said. "Should we help you look for him?"  
  
"I'm sure Harry wouldn't mind. Just check everywhere." she headed back out the door. The boys inside split up, two going to clean up real fast and the others to the door.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~Back to a certain Slytherin ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"Aah, you really shouldn't leave your toys about, Potter. Someone like me might come along and take one," Draco muttered softly as he spied Colin sitting on a rock between the lake and the big field. He walked over slowly and stopped behind him.  
  
"Hello again, young Gryffindor. Feeling any better?"  
  
"Oh, hello Draco. No, not really. If anything I'm a bit more confused than before."  
  
"Anything that you'd care to share?"  
  
"I don't know, Draco. I guess that first of all it feels weird to even be sitting here talking to you in the first place."  
  
"I can see how it might be that way, but keep in mind that often those you believe are wrong about many things, you know what I'm saying?"  
  
"Yeah, I never took the time to talk to you, I just believed that you were rotten because everyone else said you were."  
  
"Bravery might be a trait for Gryffindors, but it seems that common sense isn't." He smiled at Colin and got one in return.  
  
"What else is on your mind, young Gryffindor?"  
  
For some reason, Colin really liked it when he called him that. He was wrestling over whether or not to tell him more. Oh, why not, he figured. "It seems that I'm back where I was when I started here. No friends, still on the outside, looking in. I thought that I had it all, then it was gone." his voice cracked a little on the last few words.  
  
"Well, at least you know what it's like to be on the inside for a while. I've been sitting by the wayside for my life. I've had no friends of my own, only ones my father thinks would be good for me. I've sat by and watched all the good things happen to everyone but me."  
  
"I never thought of it like that before," Colin said. Here was Draco laying himself open to Colin after talking to him for the first time just a few hours ago. Colin decided to follow suit. "I thought Harry liked me, but I was only a replacement, I guess. It was too perfect."  
  
Draco sensed it was time to go in for the kill, Colin was his for the taking, he knew it. Colin had become emotional again, getting all teary-eyed. "You do know, young Gryffindor," Colin shuddered when he said that ("how sexy when he says it that way," he thought) , that some things come apart so that others may come together." He looked down into Colin's eyes with his own deep ones. "Jackpot," Draco thought and smiled.  
  
Colin looked up into Draco's face. What a smile. Colin already knew that Draco had soft hands, but his face looked soft too. He looked a little closer. Soft lips, too.  
  
Okay, anyone see that one coming? Probably not, huh? Should I do it? What do you think? I could go either way..... 


	20. The Great Below

I didn't mean to take this long between chapters, sorry about all that. I finally got the cast off my hand the day after my last post, but as luck would have it, the next day I played my first basketball league game in a month and was fouled quite hard and fractured a bone in my other hand when I fell. I've played in three games... wow. Good thing I paid all that money...What a bunch of crap that is... anyway, sorry again.  
  
Oh, I got a review and an email about Draco being a total slut. While I know that he almost always is in fics, that isn't what I was going for. I was aiming for the totally vindictive character. He will go to any level to get what he wants done, namely destroying Harry's world. That's why he went after Colin. Not because he is a big ol' ho bag or anything (even though he is). He is sort of like any character on a soap opera, nothing is beneath them when necessary (Erica Cain, for example).  
  
Okay, enough explaining myself, even though I know it was only a thought and not a jab at me, and on with the show...  
  
This chapter jumps around a lot, so just bear with me.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Draco and Colin ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Draco moved in close. "You're much more than a replacement to me, you know," he whispered in Colin's ear. Draco ran a hand gently down Colin's chest and felt the furious pace of his heart. The hand drifted further down and circled his waist and slowly pulled him closer.  
  
Colin smiled at that remark and let Draco continue. This didn't feel quite right, but it sure did feel good. He shut his eyes and drifted closer.  
  
Small feet carried him across the grounds in a rush. He scanned every face he came across, hoping for a sign of Colin. He looked around and saw a number of students playing in a field. Maybe Colin was over there. He flew down the small hill and was just beginning to scan the crowd when he spied two people sitting on a rock, rather involved. Platinum hair on one of them. Well, that could only be one person, now who is he with? A few more steps to the side to get a better look...  
  
He tried to scream out but the words died in his chest. That couldn't be. NO!! Please say that's not my brother!! Oh my god, it is. Not Draco Malfoy of all people. He had to find Harry and find him now. Dennis dashed back up the hill and to the castle at top speed.  
  
"Is that raspberry?" Draco thought to himself about Colin's breath as their lips met. "Yes, I believe it is."  
  
The kiss flooded Colin with feelings. Some of them were screaming at him to go ahead with all this. Others were yelling at him to stop and get out of there. The remaining feelings were undecided. "This isn't right, he thought to himself. "But is good, though." He was lost in the feelings for a handful of minutes and when his mind finally surfaced, the next thought galvanized the remaining undecided feelings. "This is so different than when me and Harry-" His eyes popped open and he pushed Draco away.  
  
"What's the matter, little Gryffindor?" Draco asked him.  
  
"This isn't right. I can't do this," was the answer Colin gave him.  
  
"You seemed quite able just a moment ago," Draco said to him, a bit annoyed.  
  
"I don't know, I just can't do it." Colin pulled away from Draco and got up.  
  
"You're just going to leave me here then?" Draco called to him.  
  
"I'm sorry, Draco. I - I have to go." Colin ran off, out into the grounds.  
  
Draco sat there for a while, trying to figure out how he could salvage his plan, if he even could at all. No, probably not. "Damn you, Gryffindor," he yelled to the grounds. He pushed his hair back in place and started walking back to the castle.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Ron and Hermione ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Hermione had left the common room a few steps ahead of Seamus and Neville and a short minute before Dennis and Aidan. She pointed the boys in on direction and took off in another. It was almost amazing how many empty classrooms there were in Hogwarts. She had checked twenty or so when her path took her directly into Ron.  
  
"Any luck, Hermione?" he asked her.  
  
"No, unfortunately not, Ron. He wasn`t in the infirmary then?"  
  
"No, he never made it there."  
  
"Well this is just wonderful. Any idea as to where we should look next?"  
  
"Maybe outside," Ron suggested.  
  
"Alright then, outside it is."  
  
They were walking in near silence, both checking in class rooms and side hallways and thinking their own thoughts. Hermione's were about how bad this all was, and Ron's were mostly on the same level. Mostly, except for the occasional rogue shot across the bow. He had just checked in a closet when he stopped dead in his tracks after a thought raced just inside his conscious mind. "Why the hell am I walking around looking for the little git? If he doesn't want to be found, so be it."  
  
"Ron, did you find something? Ron?" she asked twice after getting no reply the first time.  
  
"Huh? No, I uh, didn't find anything. I - well, I just sorta thought I did," he replied. "Oh yeah, that sounded *real* believable, Ron," he thought to himself. He shook the cobwebs out of his head and walked on, a bit worried about where that came from. "I might have to go see Surtain again," he thought to himself as he peeked in a window. Two things followed after that thought. One went unnoticed by all, and the other was noticed by Harry.  
  
Ron and Hermione had made their way down to the second floor when they were nearly bowled over by a light speed Dennis Creevey. Ron caught the boy in one arm and took a step backwards. "Where's the fire?" he asked  
  
"No fire," Dennis spat out, obviously winded from his run. "Where's Harry?"  
  
"Out looking for Colin somewhere, I presume. Why Dennis?"  
  
"I, I saw my brother. He was with Draco Malfoy."  
  
"What?!?" Ron and Hermione said at the same time. "Draco Malfoy? What ever for?" Hermione asked.  
  
"Was Malfoy hitting him or something?" Ron asked.  
  
Dennis just hung his head and shook it negatively. "No, I wish that's all it was. They were," he trailed off, trying to say what he didn't want to say, "They were kissing."  
  
The silence around them was as thick as homemade gravy. Finally, Hermione broke the quiet. "You're sure about this, aren't you, Dennis?"  
  
"Yes." It was if saying what he said took every ounce of strength from him. He went all weak in Ron's arm. He started crying.  
  
"I'm going to kill that bastard. I owe him one," Ron said.  
  
"No you're not. You're going to take Dennis up to the common room and I've got to find Harry." Ron looked like he was going to protest, but Hermione's look showed there was no room for discussion on the subject.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Harry and Draco ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Harry had been searching frantically everywhere. He had asked a few people and had no luck there. He'd checked many class rooms and also had no luck. He had just checked a semi-secret passage that too many people knew about to be called secret when his stone necklace began to radiate heat. Harry was quite surprised and yelled out loud. A young Ravenclaw boy, most likely a firstie, stared at him like he had three heads.  
  
"Ah, it's just a cramp, that's all," he tried to explain to the boy as he rubbed his leg. He smiled his best disarming smile but the kid wasn't sure. "I'm not insane," he nearly yelled after the boy. He pulled out the stone after the kid walked on and it was glowing a bright orange-yellow. He could actually feel it this time, not like last night. It wasn't burning him, it was just warm.  
  
"I need to remember to ask Hermione if she knows anything about this rock," he said to the wall. After getting no reply, he began his search again.  
  
Draco Malfoy was truly pissed by now. He had made it back into the castle and was going back to the dungeons. People seemed to pick up on his mood and gave him a wide berth, which was good because they would be subjected to a petrifying gaze and an acid tongue had they the nerve to be in his way.  
  
"Why, what have we here?" he asked himself. Providence was apparently on Draco's side after all. Down the hall from him, walking his way, was the object of his hate, Potter himself. Maybe everything might not have been for naught after all.  
  
Draco waited until Harry drew closer before speaking. "So, Potter, how does he taste?" Harry was obviously not happy about seeing him. "Good," he thought.  
  
"Malfoy, what are you talking about?"  
  
"I thought I noticed a hint of raspberry. Ever notice that, Potter? Maybe it's from some of those raspberry candies from Hogsmeade."  
  
"Malfoy, in case you haven't noticed, I'm busy, so exactly what are ---" realization sunk in right then and there. "You son of bitch, you stay away from him. You better hope you're lying, Malfoy!"  
  
"Ah, but Potter, he came to me; it seems that someone didn't have time for him anymore, with the Weasel Reunion and all."  
  
"You are so full of garbage, Malfoy."  
  
"Really? You think so? Raspberry, Potter. You know it's true. And the way his heart beats when you hold him. It's a shame you ditched him like that, Potter."  
  
"I did no such thing!!" Harry yelled to everyone in the hallway.  
  
"Well, someone sure seems to think so, Potter."  
  
"I swear by all that is sacred, Malfoy, that if I find out that this is true, I will make you wish you were never born."  
  
"Idle threats, Potter. If you don't believe me, just come down to the Slytherin common room tonight, during dinner. You can see for yourself. You can see *everything* for yourself." Draco smirked the biggest smirk in the history of the free world and walked off, leaving Harry standing in the corridor.  
  
Once he was a way down and around a corner, he stopped to think. "Oh, wonderful. Now I have to figure a way to get him to my room tonight." he leaned up against a wall and pondered for a moment. Thankfully for him, Slytherin are notoriously devious planners and he walked back the way he came with a big smile. 


	21. Cleo

Oh, the planets have aligned. I finally get the chance to post again. It must be a miracle.  
Before I start, here are a few things.  
1)I still don't own the characters (rats)  
2)the Hugh Mitchell picture bounty is still in effect  
3)if any of you awesome readers would like to help me out, let me know. I need someone or someones who are familiar with the Nine Inch Nails album Pretty Hate Machine. Just drop me an email (super-goose@excite.com) if you're interested or in a review. You'll be helping a story take shape. I'll explain more if you're interested. If you're not, just wait and you'll eventually see the tale on FFN. Thanks in advance.  
4)I apparently have to post in .txt file now, and I hate that, so bear with me as I work out the spacing and stuff. FFN no longer recognizes my MS Word docs, and I don't know why.  
Alright, now let's get on with it.  
  
Once Harry got over the shock of the bomb that Draco dropped, he was quite upset. Actually, that was hardly the word. Nearly inconsolable might be more like it. He kept seeing that smirk of Draco's in his mind. And raspberries. Hints of raspberries. Draco was very right about that. Colin certainly did enjoy those candies from Hogsmeade. Deep in his heart, he knew that Draco wasn't lying, even though he wished with all his soul that he was.  
  
Harry leaned against the wall and hung his head low. He shook it side to side and breathed deeply, trying to fight off the tears. He quickly made his way back to the Gryffindor common room and sank into one of the cushy chairs.   
  
It was no ones fault but my own, Harry thought to himself. I never even acknowledged his presence after Ron and I made up. It was like he wasn't even there. I don't blame him at all for going off to find someone else. Maybe someone else will deserve him more than me, even if it is Draco Malfoy.  
  
Harry thought back to all the times that they'd shared over the past few weeks. He never really realized how deep his feelings ran for Colin until now that he'd lost him. Much deeper than he'd ever thought possible for anyone. His talisman began to glow faintly and radiate a little more heat than normal, beginning to warm the tower that had picked up its typical late September afternoon chill. He was so deep in his reveries that he didn't even notice the common room door swing open and Dennis and Ron step in.  
  
Dennis was still winded from his sprint across the grounds a bit ago, but when he saw Harry trying to bury himself in the chair, all the fatigue dropped out of him instantly. He was over at Harry's side before Ron had taken more than three steps into the room. Dennis jumped onto the chair beside him and threw his arms around Harry, jolting him back into real time.  
  
"Harry!! Oh Harry, it's terrible news, Harry!"  
  
"I know, Dennis, I know."  
  
"You know? But how?" Dennis looked quite dumbfounded as to how Harry could already know what he had just seen a bit ago.  
  
"Malfoy told me." Dennis' face turned as pale as Draco's normally was.  
  
"Oh no. I was dreading telling you, but hearing it from him is 100 times worse."  
  
"That is an understatement, Dennis, believe me."  
  
"Dennis, come here for a minute," Ron called from the doorway.  
  
"Yeah, Ron?" Dennis made his way over to him.  
  
"Stay here and keep an eye on Harry. I've got to go find Hermione, she'll know what to do. Don't let him do anything stupid, got it?"  
  
"You got it." Dennis attempted a salute, but it was so half-hearted that it was sad. He went back over to Harry's side and sat down. Ron left the room on his mission, still not sure what to think about anything that had happened today.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ now to our favourite Slytherin ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
  
Draco left the encounter with Harry on a mission of his own. It was quite simple, really. If he finds Colin first, he wins. If he doesn't, Potter wins. It was just a game, really. A game with very high stakes for both the contestants.  
  
He headed in the direction of the Divination classroom, hoping to find the teacher there. While he never took stock in Divinations as a particularly good branch of magic, or even a single class for that matter, he knew that was his quickest option to winning.  
  
He scaled the ladder and was about to push the door open when it swung to on its own. He was a little surprised, but stepped through with his typical swagger. The room he stepped into looked like something out of an old Muggle mystery movie. The walls were painted a variety of orange shades, with a bit of greens and blacks thrown in. There were quite a few half shaded windows, quite a few seemingly randomly placed tables and many, many candles.  
  
"Greetins, Draco Malfoy," a voice from one end called out and startled him.  
  
"How do you know who I am? I've never set foot in here before." Draco was caught unawares, one of the few things that could irritate him almost as much as Potter.  
  
"I dunno, mebbee because I am psychic? Or mebbee I just know who you are? I'll let you decide. Now how can I help you?"  
  
"If you're psychic, then you should know why I'm here, shouldn't you?" he asked in his sarcastic drawl.  
  
"Do not mock the Ether, young Draco Malfoy. They know much more than you and reveal it when they are ready. Now come over here and let's see what the cards say for you."  
  
The way she said that took the wind from his sails, so he sat down in the chair across from her smaller than he'd been a moment before. "Now, what can I help you with?"  
  
"I need to know where a certain person is right now. It is very urgent and most important."  
  
"Aah, then I'll need your birthday."  
  
"My birthday? Whatever for?"  
  
With a stern look, Miss Cleo said to him, "it helps the cards focus, that is why it is important. Now, what is your birthday?"  
  
"November 15." what little fight Draco had left in him was now gone. He was much more like the timid Neville than the raucous Draco we saw a bit ago.  
  
"See, that didn't hurt, did it?" she asked in a semi-mocking voice. Now let's see what the cards say, shall we?" Draco just nodded, suddenly unsure if this was such a good idea anymore. She shuffled the cards thrice and then cut them once, then laying ten of them on the much stained and quite old table.  
  
"Interesting. Very interesting indeed."  
  
"What? Do you see who I'm looking for?" Draco's head perked up.  
  
"Oh yes, honey, I see him. I also see something else," she was going to continue but Draco interrupted her.  
  
"Where? Is something wrong?" Draco was leaning halfway over the table now, any further and he'd be sitting in Cleo's lap.  
  
"He be fine, Draco. Be not worried about him. But the other thing that I see, that you might want to worry a little about. I fear it will cause you many problems in the not to distant future."  
  
"What do you see then? You have to tell me!"  
  
"I see more feelings than you want to realize right now, Draco Malfoy. Many more feelings. You don't want to admit them to anyone, least of all yourself. I must say, I'm a bit surprised, from what I've heard, you're to be quite the ladies' man."  
  
"What in the bloody hell are you talking about?"  
  
"The cards do not lie, Draco Malfoy. You have feelings for this one, quite strong actually. You can hide them from most people, but I can nearly smell it."  
  
"Feelings? For- Look, I told you that this is very urgent. Are you going to tell me where to go, or do I need to just leave now and look myself?"  
  
"I will surely tell you where he is. He is in one of the pens near Hagrid's cabin. On top of one of them, to be absolute."  
  
"Everything is okay, right?"  
  
"Yes love, he's fine. Do remember my warning though," she said as Draco was storming for the door. As the door shut behind him, she laughed to herself and said to no one that we could see, "Boys and their feelings. I do hope everything turns out okay."  
  
Sorry that this is such a short chapter, I just can't keep my eyes open any longer. Next one will be quite lengthy and will hopefully resolve the Harry/Colin/Draco thing. Get ready for someone to kick Harry in the ass to get out of his little depression and get him motivated. He can be such a lunkhead sometimes, can't he?   
Oh yeah, any NIN fans wanna help me out?? Let me know. 


	22. Resolution and Dedication

Alright, here we go with the long chapter I was promising. Everything is worked out, finally and someone is very happy, someone is very sad. Okay without further adieu, here we go with chapter 22!!!  
  
  
  
Ron searched for almost five minutes before he came across Hermione. She was still searching for Harry and had just finished talking to a bunch of Gryffindor first years and got negative replies when Ron found her.  
  
"Hermione, you have to come, to the common room. Harry's there." Ron was a bit out of breath after his high speed jaunt through the halls.  
  
"Does that not figure, we leave the common room and that's where he ends up. Come on, let's go." The two of them retraced Ron's steps and found their way back. Just before they entered, Hermione pulled Ron aside.  
  
"Does he know, Ron? About Malfoy?"  
  
"Yes, he already knows. Malfoy told Harry himself."  
  
"That bastard. That heartless bastard. This is a new low, even for a Slytherin. Of all the things to mess with, it has to be the one thing that Harry loves most. Damn him." She opened the door and stepped through, leaving Ron to follow behind her and absorb her last comment. He winced unknowingly.  
  
"That used to be me, I think," he said so softly that it might have just been in his head. He stepped into the room a few paces behind Hermione.  
  
She took in the scene; Harry in a chair sunk way down, Dennis in the neighboring chair, watching Harry like a hawk. He was trying to talk to Harry but seemed to be having little success. Hermione stormed over to him and planted both her hands on her hips and began to lay into him.  
  
"Harry? Harry! Why are you just sitting there?"  
  
"Huh, what are you talking about Hermione?"  
  
"Will you wake up already?"  
  
"What do you mean, Hermione?"  
  
"You love him, right?"  
  
"Who, Colin?"  
  
"No, the bloody Chudley Cannon mascot. Yes, Colin. You love him, right?"  
  
"Yes. Of course I do."  
  
"Then why in the holy hell are you just sitting in that chair while Malfoy is out there trying to do who knows what. Are you just going to sit there?"  
  
"I don't know Hermione, maybe it would be best if I just left him alone." Hermione looked at the Boy Who Lived in utter disbelief. She glanced at Ron, he was standing about halfway between the door and the chair. Dennis was looking between her and Harry like a spectator at a tennis match.  
  
"What?! Now see here, Harry Potter, you stop all this passive- aggressive, depressive bullshit right now." She was nearly yelling as the finished that blurb. Harry was completely shocked. A little of his daze seemed to have left him.  
  
"I will not sit here while you feel sorry for yourself."  
  
"Hermione-" Harry tried to speak but she didn't let him get another word out.  
  
"I've been through, well, we *all* have been through way too much drama so far this year to let you write Colin off this bloody quick." Her face was so close to his now that she could have leaned an inch forward and licked his nose, though why she'd want to do that is beyond this author. "Are you listening to me?"  
  
"Huh, yeah, I'm listening."  
  
"Okay, then are you hearing me?"  
  
"What?" uh oh, wrong thing to say he instantly realized.  
  
"Harry, get out of that chair right now. Get out and go to him."  
  
"I don't know where he is." Harry put his head down again and sank back into the chair. Hermione reached down and grabbed him by the front of his robes and picked him up just off his toes like he was a doll.  
  
Whispering in his ear, she said, "Harry, you have the Marauder's Map, I suggest you use it." She set him down and straightened the front of his robes, as they were a bit rumpled for some reason.  
  
Harry looked at her like she had a second nose for a second and smiled at her and said "Thanks." He hopped up the steps with a spring in his step again.  
  
As he made the way to the top, Dennis finally remembered to breathe. He'd been watching in awe as Hermione bit into Harry like a rabid dog. "Hermione, what'd you say to him at the end?"  
  
"I told him that he'd better get up or I'd get mad." yeah, she lied, but she could have told Dennis that spaghetti made a nice hairpiece and he'd believe her.  
  
"Wow!" was all he replied. He looked to Ron and said the same to him. Ron grinned back.  
  
Harry went into his trunk and dug out the blank piece of parchment that was the Marauder's Map from the very bottom. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," he said, waving his wand over the parchment. It filled with hundreds of dots, all going different directions. Where was Colin? "There's Seamus and Neville off in a secret passage doing who knows what. It's a good thing that this thing doesn't give details," he thought. Where are you? Finally he found Colin's dot and was happy for a split second until he realized that there was a second dot with Colin's and the name on it said Draco Malfoy.  
  
They were headed away from the rest of the students, down to the dungeons instead of to the Great Hall. His heart sank. "Oh no, I'm too late!" he thought.  
  
Hermione and Dennis were on the way up the stairs at that time, Hermione having decided that Harry was taking too long and might have backed out again. She opened the door and saw his frowning face. He seemed very likely to slip back into his former mood again.  
  
"What is it Harry? Where's Colin?" she asked.  
  
"He's, he's with Draco." he set the parchment aside.  
  
"Oh no you don't," she thought. "Harry Potter, I thought we already had this talk not five minutes ago. What's changed now?"  
  
"It's too late. He's already with him."  
  
"Are you mad, Harry? I hope you aren't planning on sitting here while your boyfriend walks into Draco Malfoy's house."  
  
"I hurt him badly, Hermione, and the worst thing is that I didn't even know that I did it. Don't you think that if you truly love someone, you'd know if you do something like that?"  
  
"Harry, you screwed up. It happens. Oh well. If you truly love someone, you go and try to patch things up, put them right. That old expression about letting something go and if it comes back it's true love, well, that's all crap. Total crap. Love isn't perfect. It never has been, and it never will be." she surveyed his face, looking for a sign. "Now you go and claim what's yours, Harry."  
  
He looked at her and it seemed that he was getting back his zest. "Hermione," he started to say, but she interrupted him again. He noticed that his stone was blazing heat again as she started to speak.  
  
"Harry, not another word. Go." Harry looked like Harry of old again. He hopped off his bed and gave her a big hug.  
  
"Oh my, he's hot, it's like hugging a furnace," she thought. "You're so hot, Harry," she told him.  
  
"Thanks, Hermione, but I'm taken." He grinned at her and said "I'll tell you about it later. He bounded out the door, stopping to ruffle Dennis' hair and then nearly bowl Ron over as he entered the room.  
  
His stone was glowing again, he could really feel it, warmer than ever before. He wiped a few beads of sweat from his face as he headed through the corridors to the dungeons.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Now to Draco ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"Feelings? Whatever. He is just a game piece, a toy. You don't have feelings for a toy," Draco thought to himself as he made his way from the Divination tower. "Really?" a voice called from somewhere very deep inside him. He shook his head and tried to dismiss the voice. He could not do so completely.  
  
In an effort to outrace the voice, he plunged headlong down the hallways and looked a bit like Hermes. He ran blindly and leapt down nearly an entire flight of steps. Okay, he didn't plan on doing it, but it still looked good. He was going so fast that his foot missed the second step and he simply jumped instead of falling down fourteen stone steps. He had hang time a la Michael Jordan. He barely landed on his feet and narrowly missed landing on a young Hufflepuff. "Sorry," he said quickly. She watched him fly to the front doors, not sure if she was impressed or irritated.  
  
He covered the distance to Hagrid's cabin in under a minute, not bad for a boy who's idea of exercise was having Crabbe and Goyle beat on someone.  
  
"If that old bat was lying to me," he thought. "What'll you do? Tell your father you were looking for a boy because you love him?" that voice spoke up again. "Will you please shut the hell up?" he said aloud. He rounded the cabin and saw Colin perched on the roof of some horrible creature's pen. He skidded to a stop in front of the pen, pin wheeling his arms for balance in the wet grass. He lost his balance and plunged into a nice pile of muddy liquid near the pen face first.  
  
"Oh, that had better be water," he fumed out loud. A few scraping sounds came from the roof, followed by Colin's face appearing over the edge a few seconds later.  
  
"Draco? Is that you? Are you alright? What are you doing here?"  
  
"I was hoping," Draco said, pulling himself to his knees and wiping the back of a hand across his eyes, "that we could talk." Draco surveyed the mud on his robes and found it to be quite extensive.  
  
"Draco, I don't know if there is anything to talk about."  
  
"Colin, I'm sorry if I came on a bit strong earlier. I don't know what happened. I was just going to talk to you, and well, you know what happened instead." Draco was damned if he was going to give up that easily, especially now that he was covered in mud. "And since you care," that voice added again. Colin looked at him with his big eyes and silently told Draco to go on.  
  
"First off, I want to apologize for doing that earlier. I pushed myself on you and I had no right to do so. I'm sorry."  
  
"Well, it was hardly non-consensual, Draco," Colin said.  
  
"SCORE!!" Draco's mind yelled.  
  
"Yeah, that might be, but I still pressed you into it. I'm sorry. So can we talk about things, slower this time?"  
  
"I don't know. It just felt wrong."  
  
"Well then, allow me this. Tell me that you felt nothing, nothing at all, and I'll walk away and never bother you again. Can you do that, Colin?"  
  
Draco watched as Colin's gears turned on that one. He was obviously searching his feelings hard. "No, I can't tell you that, Draco. I did feel something."  
  
"Well then, will you hear me out and talk for a while? You owe me that, my young Gryffindor." Draco had just put all his cards on the table and called.  
  
Colin was torn to the core. On one hand, he desperately wanted to go with Draco, but on the other, he still had Harry in his heart. He certainly did feel something earlier, raw power, not soft love like with Harry. Both were very different, but both were very intoxicating. "Okay, we can talk," he finally decided.  
  
"Goooooooaaaaaaalllllllllllllllll!!!!!!!!!!" Draco's mind yelled like a Mexican soccer announcer. The dinner bell was ringing somewhere behind them, adding to the din in Draco's mind. Right now, dinner was the last thing in either boy's mind. "Good," he smiled. "Can we do it somewhere else, like maybe somewhere I could change out of these nasty clothes?"  
  
Colin climbed down from the roof and got a little unnecessary but nice help from Draco. "Sure. Lead the way."  
  
As they were walking off, Draco said, "Colin, please tell me that this is watery mud and not anything else."  
  
"No, it's not."  
  
"I didn't think so."  
  
"Do you want to know what it is then?"  
  
"No, definitely not." They walked up to the castle doors and waded upstream against the current of hungry students.  
  
Draco recited the password "Gryffindors Suck" and the door opened. Colin looked a bit upset but decided to not mention it now.  
  
(A/N: I think that in every fic I've ever read the password to Slytherin's common room is 'Gryffindors Suck'. I can't break tradition, can I?)  
  
Draco held the door open as Colin went in first. The Slytherin common room was everything that the Gryffindors wasn't. Colin's seemed warm and homey, while this seemed almost Spartan. The chairs looked uncomfortable to even be near, much less sit on. Everything was polished stone- the floors, the walls, ceiling. All black, of course. A large mirror adorned one wall, in front of it was a table with an assortment of bottles and glasses and mugs.  
  
Draco evidently caught Colin's stares and commented, "Sorry it isn't as nice as yours and all, my young Gryffindor, but it really isn't quite as bad as it looks." Colin looked around again, trying to believe Draco but failing in that endeavor.  
  
"If you say so, Draco, if you say so." he stepped over to a chair and pushed on the padding. To his surprise it yielded a bit more than he expected. "Okay, maybe you're right."  
  
Draco smiled warmly at him and spoke again, "I'll tell you what, I strongly need to take a shower and wash off whatever filth I fell into, so while I do that, you can relax and make yourself comfortable."  
  
"Alright. You do stink more than a little, you know."  
  
"Alas, I thought that was you, Colin," Draco said laughing with him. "Help yourself to any of the beverages on the table by the mirror. Do be careful, though. Some of them are a little stronger than the pumpkin juice that you might be used to, if you know what I mean."  
  
"Gotcha, now go get that shower, Draco." Draco walked around the corner, already starting to take off his filthy robes. Colin took a few more glances around the room and walked over to the marble table. There were quite a variety of bottles there, most of which he'd never seen before. "What's this one? Spiced cider? I like cider," he thought. He poured a glass and set the bottle back on the table. Sip. Gag. "Spiced with what? Gasoline?" At the same time, it was good. Warming, just a little. It seemed to take the chill off that this room possessed.  
  
In the shower, Draco's mind was wheeling like a dervish. It was all down to this moment. All the cards were on the table. He was playing for keeps. Those and tons more clichés swam through his already clouded mind. "You don't want to lose on more levels than you'll admit, you know," that pesky voice that spoke earlier added again. "You're right, I don't want to lose. I won't lose. I won't lose to Potter," he told the shower stall. "You don't want to lose *him* to Potter most of all, do you?" the voice asked again. "I don't know what you're talking about," he said as he shut the water off. He stepped out and grabbed a towel and dried vigorously, perhaps trying to shake that pesky voice out of his head. He wrapped the towel around him and made his way up to his dorm room. He pulled on a pair of black jeans and grabbed a shirt off the rack. He started to pull it on, but smiled a half grin and didn't do so just yet. Instead he waited until he was stepping into the common room before slipping it on, giving Colin a glimpse of Draco's small but nicely shaped midsection.  
  
"Wow! Nice," Colin thought to himself and very nearly voiced to Draco. His glass was now nearly empty and he felt a little light-headed.  
  
Draco glanced to the table and noticed the bottle of cider that was out of place. "Oh, yeah, this is getting easier by the minute," he thought to himself. He picked up the bottle and another glass and walked over to where Colin was still standing. "You can sit, you know. They don't bite, well, except for the one over there." he pointed to a chair in the corner. "One of the seventh years hexed it. We've not bothered to un- hex it though."  
  
"Oh, sure," Colin said, sounding if sitting was the best idea on the planet. Draco poured himself a glass of the cider and offered more to Colin.  
  
"I bet you don't have things like this in Gryffindor tower, do you?"  
  
"No, we don't. too bad though, I like it."  
  
"Me too. It's good stuff, huh?" The two of them exchanged idle banter for a good ten minutes, Draco barely sipping from his glass, and refilling Colin's glass twice. Talk eventually turned to more serious subjects once Draco steered it that way. He could sense that Colin was getting drunk and that it was time to make his play.  
  
"So Colin, what exactly did you feel today?" Draco asked.  
  
"Live wires and electricity. What about you?"  
  
"About the same. It was pretty strong, wasn't it?"  
  
"It was nearly mind blowing. It was so intense," Colin thought, but not quite right.  
  
"It was. I lost my breath for a few seconds." Draco was scooting closer, moving in to close the deal. "So, my young Gryffindor, my young, beautiful Gryffindor, do you want to do it again?"  
  
Colin's expression went completely blank for a moment, leaving Draco hanging on every breath. "Yes, Draco, I do, with all my heart," he said taking a deep breath.  
  
Draco nearly jumped off the couch in his excitement, his mind screaming "yes!!!" and his heart racing skyward.  
  
"But I can't," he finished. Draco's heart crashed back to earth in a pile of ash.  
  
"Excuse me?" Draco asked, completely stunned.  
  
"Draco, I just can't. It's just not right. No matter what, Harry still owns my heart and I can't change that. Harry and I have love, passion, and caring. What you and I had was simply lust, nothing more.  
  
"Oh hell no," Draco thought. He couldn't lose. "Even if you never feel the same way ever, ever again? You'd forgo everything else?"  
  
"Yes," was all Colin replied.  
  
"You lie," Draco snapped.  
  
"No I don't. The lust would replace the love for a time, then it would begin to poison me, eat me away. I can't do that, not to myself, not to Harry."  
  
Draco was speechless. Not a witty remark, not a mean thought, nothing at all crossed his mind. He looked in utter disbelief. He felt like someone who'd bet on the Rams in the Superbowl, only to see New England kick a last second field goal and steal away a victory. His mind was still wide empty when the common room door burst open.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Back in Gryffindor Tower ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Hermione was studying the Marauder's map on Harry's bed as Dennis and Ron came to join her.  
  
"Hermione, what is that?" Dennis asked her.  
  
"You have to promise to keep it an utter secret first, alright?"  
  
"Sure, I promise," he squealed. It seemed like mischief, so Dennis was in.  
  
"Well," Ron said, "it's a magical map that shows every single being in Hogwarts, living or dead."  
  
"Everyone? Even Dumbledore?"  
  
"Yes, everyone," Hermione answered.  
  
"That's crazy! Where'd it come from?"  
  
"My brothers gave it to Harry two years ago when he couldn't go to Hogsmeade legally.  
  
"That's bloody awesome!" Dennis traced his finger along the path that the dot labeled Harry Potter was taking. The dot made its way to the dungeons and raced past the Slytherin door and then turned back around and stopped.  
  
"Well, here we go, all or nothing," Ron said. Hermione and Dennis nodded in agreement. Ron's feelings were very twisted at this point. He desperately wanted Harry to be happy even if it wasn't with him, but at the same time he was *extremely* jealous of Colin. The dot entered the Slytherin room with Draco's and Colin's dot. Ron took a deep breath and waited. Dennis and Hermione were talking back and forth rapidly, but he was focused only on the three dots, ignoring all else.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Back to Harry and the Slytherin Door ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Harry flew to the dungeons as fast as he possibly could. He was going so fast that he ran right by the entrance and barely noticed. It had been a while since he'd been down this way, but he recognized his error and reversed course.  
  
"Oh great. What's the password?" he said aloud.  
  
"Sure, as if I'll tell the likes of you," the knight in the picture answered.  
  
"Oh sod off and let me think." he paced back and forth for a moment. "If I were a Slytherin, what would my password be? Of course!!"  
  
"Gryffindors Suck!" he exclaimed. The door swung open.  
  
Harry charged in and saw Draco and Colin sitting very close together on a couch with glasses of something in their hands. "I'm too late," he thought. He looked between the two of them for a handful of very heavy seconds, then his emotions spilled out.  
  
"Colin, I'm so sorry for what happened earlier today. I never meant to hurt you in any way. I just got caught up in the moment." Harry was crying freely now, and his stone was throwing heat like a furnace. Colin looked as if he were about to speak, but Harry waved him silent. "Please, hear me out. Whatever your choice is, hear me out," he begged. The other two looked at him in silence.  
  
"Colin, I don't even know where to begin. Ever since I was at your house this summer, I felt as if I'd found something that was missing. I didn't know what it was at first, but it was you. You completed me. I've never been this happy with anyone before." he saw a question in Colin's mind before it was even fully formed. "You and Ron are both dearly important to me, but in different ways. I'd trust Ron with my life any day of the week. But you, Colin, I'd trust with my heart forever." he looked for any sign in Colin's face but saw nothing. He continued on.  
  
"I've heard that love is when you look into someone's eyes and the rest of the world disappears. (see A/N at end) That is the way I feel with you. I look into your eyes and can hardly tear myself away. I see you smile and I get a warm fuzzy feeling in the pit of my stomach. You laugh and I don't know how I was ever without you. You touch me and I melt." he paused and took a breath. "I'd cross the highest mountains, swim the deepest ocean, all to see you again. Just to hold you one more time I'd give anything, everything." he looked Colin in the eyes and felt the most wonderful feelings in the world. Colin looked away to Draco and Harry mistook the look he saw there.  
  
"Colin," Harry implored, seeming to lose hope, "I love you now and I always will. You'll always have my heart, no matter what happens. I just want you to know that. As long as you're happy, I'll be happy." he turned to leave, certain that Colin was staying with Draco.  
  
Harry had taken no more than a half dozen steps when a pair of arms encircled his waist and a head buried itself in his side. "I love you Harry," Colin said, his voice muffled by Harry's robes. "I always will." Harry stopped in mid step and hugged him back in an unbreakable embrace. He kissed the top of Colin's head and looked over to Draco.  
  
Draco looked absolutely broken. He was wiping a few tears of his own away; real ones, not crocodile tears. "Good show, Potter. Take him. You deserve him." Draco's voice broke while telling Harry he deserved Colin. He started walking back toward the dorms when he turned back to the two who had just started making their way out.  
  
"Potter, one more thing. Before you arrived, he chose you. Not me. You. I just thought you should know." Draco could barely get the words out. He turned back around and began slowly walking to his room.  
  
Harry stood for a moment, contemplating what had just occurred. He kissed Colin's crown again and they left the dungeons with arms around waists.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ In Gryffindor Tower ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
It seemed like hours had passed since Harry had stepped into the Slytherin common room. When the three dots were all together, all of Hermione's and Dennis' chatter stopped. Not a sound could be heard, except for heartbeats. They watched. They waited. When the dots labeled Harry and Colin merged, they erupted in cheers. Well, two cheered a lot louder than the other. I'll let you guess who on that one. Hermione and Dennis danced while Ron leaned against the bed and ran a hand back through his hair.  
  
  
  
So, how'd you like my first stab at real romance? I tried to make it as gripping as possible, but as much as I love to read romance, I can't write it. All in all, this is by far my favorite and I think well written chapter. I hope you enjoyed it, too.  
  
The A/N for Harry's line--that came from a wonderful story by Hikari no Tenshi called 'Harry Potter and the Bard's Song.' it is said by Seamus to Dean and I just love it. Give that story a read. You'll love it, I guarantee it.  
  
  
  
One more thing before I sign off for now. I'd like to dedicate this chapter to my Colin. You know who you are. You complete me. I love you now and forever. Always.  
  
Thank you,  
  
energy 


	23. interlude

Well, this is sort of a little interlude more than an update. Here we go.  
  
First off, I'd like to tell you that you have reached the halfway point in this story, give yourselves a pat on the back. I know that I can get really, really wordy. I also write very deeply involved stories. You might think I've thrown in completely useless things or think I've forgotten about something entirely, but I haven't. trust me. (eh hem, Julia. Stop sweating me, please. I do have a point, you know. It just takes a while to get there sometimes!)  
  
Next, here's a little bit of what's going on in energy's world and why there will be no posting for a little while (sorry!) I am going to be spending a week in completely sunny, no snow in sight, I can wear shorts outside, JAMAICA. Oh hell yeah. If I stay in this frigid hellhole any longer, I might lose my mind a second time.  
  
Don't fret, though. I will be lounging on the beach and drinking (of course ;) and writing and relaxing. So, for the next part of the interlude, here is what you can expect.  
  
For this story, things will be happy and good for nearly everyone for a while. Guess who is not happy. Come on, he lost…anyway…Ron will again sway, maybe forever. Someone makes a choice. Someone will die. Rather important person? Maybe. You'll have to wait and see. I know that some of you want details of what Harry and Colin (and Neville and Seamus) do in their private time. Well, I don't like writing that because I think it makes the love I try to portray ugly, but I might make an exception. Just don't expect anything too graphic.  
  
Aside from this story, I've just started another called Being Harry Potter. It's my version of Being John Malkovich with Harry and the gang. It will likely turn out to be my favorite, I think. Check that one out. It will be the only other thing to get an update between now and when I leave Thursday.  
  
Also, look for a fic inspired by NIN featuring Ron and Draco. It's based off the album Pretty Hate Machine. The songs on it go together real well and tell a little story between a have and a have not. You can thank a long drive to Indy for this idea.  
  
In the last week, I've had a single line echoing thru my head non-stop. "Oh man, I just shot Dobby in the face." if anyone knows what that's from, get ready for a fic based on that movie. (well, it wasn't Dobby who got shot, but that's what's in my head.)  
  
And finally, an entirely different HP world. Cross some Star Wars ideas about the Dark Side with Unforgivable curses, add my special herbs and spices (crack) and you'll get a very interesting story. Maybe they'll have lightsabres. That would be neat. (writes that down…)  
  
And on the last thing I want to do, here's a shout out to all my wonderful reviewers.  
  
Wheezy, Kay, Tiger Lily, Adakie, Gwen, Ashley, Harrysboy, James, OPenWIndowGUy, tenshi-chan, Ryolin, Geladwyn. Now a few special shout outs.  
  
First off, the very observant Shimmerwings. Thanks a lot. One thing, though. WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? Just wondering. Find me that picture, you still get your Harry/Ron.  
  
Elske/Cariad- didn't mean to give any nightmares. Sorry. Don't worry about Ron's happy ending. He'll be content.  
  
Mare- stand by for some yummy Neville and Seamus yumminess (also see Being Harry Potter) glad to make you happy.  
  
teethshaver- last but certainly not least. Wanna be my muse? I've always wondered where people get muses anyway. Walmart? Feel free to use my version of the Creeveys. Maybe if enough people write them intelligently, then they won't be so overlooked and underused. Oh, and you might feel more than hate for Draco, depending if I digress and tell a side story (and I probably will….)  
  
See you in about 10 days!!!!! I'd show you my great tan and pics when I get back, but well, you know…. Thanks for reading and I guess I'll see ya!!! 


	24. Backslide

When we last left everyone oh so long ago (so I'm lazy, sheesh…) everyone in Gryffindor house was nominally happy. Quite a few were overjoyed, but one was on the verge of tears. Not tears of joy, mind you, but of sadness.  
  
By the time Harry and Colin had made their way back to the tower, all the searchers had returned as if called by an inaudible wail. Dennis stood by Hermione as usual and was beaming at her quite often. Seamus and Neville were sitting in a chair nearby and Ron was seated by himself behind the rest.  
  
When the door opened and Harry and Colin stepped into the common room they were rushed by Hermione and Dennis. Dennis ran up to his brother and embraced him tightly. He was nearly crying as he buried his face in his older brother's chest. "What were you doing, Colin?" he asked very lightly.  
  
"I don't know, Dennis. I was very upset and confused I guess."  
  
"Next time come and find me and I'll straighten you out." Dennis stopped talking and looked at his brother with a mortified expression once he thought of another way his sentence could be taken. "Oh! I didn't mean it like that, Colin, honest. I don't care who you like. I'll um, I'll help you figure out--"  
  
"Don't worry about it, Dennis, I know you didn't mean anything by it. And I will talk to you if there is a next time, I promise." He hugged his little brother back and smiled at Harry and Hermione.  
  
Hermione was hugging him just as fiercely and was talking in his ear. "I'm so happy for you, Harry. I knew you'd get him back."  
  
"I'm glad one of us knew for certain, Hermione. I thought he'd chosen Malfoy over me and I had turned to leave."  
  
"It doesn't matter anymore Harry, so don't worry about it anymore. He chose you, not Malfoy. End of story."  
  
"Thanks, Hermione."  
  
"No problem." she released Harry and stepped back at about the same time as Dennis. Neville and Seamus gave their congratulations next once Hermione and Dennis gave them room.  
  
"I wish you all the best, Harry, and you too Colin," Seamus said, "you two are perfect for each other."  
  
"Yeah, I'm so glad for you two," Neville added. Seamus saw Ron approaching behind them and gently pulled Neville off to the side.  
  
Ron came to Harry and said "Harry, I'm glad everything worked out. You two really are great together."  
  
"Thanks, Ron. That really means a lot." Ron hugged Harry and moved over to Colin. He bent over and dropped to one knee, so that he and Colin were almost on the same level since Ron was over two heads taller and quite a bit bigger.  
  
"I'm sorry I've been such an ass, Colin. As long as you two are happy so am I."  
  
"Thanks Ron, we appreciate that." Ron hugged Colin and picked him up without even thinking about it. "Be good to him, Colin," he whispered in Colin's ear.  
  
"I will, Ron. Promise," Colin whispered back.  
  
"Now. Kill him!" something in Ron's head screamed. "NO!!" he yelled back in his mind. " I won't!" A bolt of white pain shot through him and felt as if it were about to split his head. "Do it now!" the voice yelled again. "no." Ron barely said back. He sat Colin down and fell to the ground clutching his head.  
  
Cries of alarm erupted from around the room and Hermione and Harry raced to his side. "We've got to get him to the nurse," Hermione said.  
  
"No," Ron croaked out. "I'll be fine." he sat down on his rear and looked at the group gathered around him. "I'm a bit better already. Really," he added as he saw their expressions, worried and skeptical.  
  
"Ron, you really should go to see the nurse, you know," Harry told him.  
  
"You might be right, but I just need to take a walk, I think. I'll be back in a while."  
  
The gathered group looked at him with concern. "I appreciate your concern, I really do, but I promise I'll be fine." Ron walked to the portrait hole and disappeared, rapidly making his way toward the Astronomy Tower.  
  
Inside the room, the group was taken aback by Ron's hasty and unexpected exit.  
  
"Whatever is wrong with Ron?" Colin asked.  
  
"I have no idea, Colin, but if whatever it is happens again, he's going to the nurse if he likes it or not," Harry replied.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ In the Astronomy tower ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Ron entered the room out of breath and just in time to see the last of the sun slip below the horizon. "Surtain?" he whispered. "Surtain?" he called a bit louder this time.  
  
"Yes, Ron Weasley, I felt you coming."  
  
Ron turned around and saw a grey circle pulsing in time to the spoken words on the floor in front of him. Harry would have thought it looked something like the green and red bars on uncle Vernon's stereo, but since Ron had never seen a Muggle stereo before, that didn't occur to him.  
  
"Is that you?" was all he could think of to ask.  
  
"Yes. It is a limited manifestation that I have very recently been able to produce. It seems, Ron Weasley, that I am slowly regaining power."  
  
"Well, that's good, I guess." Ron looked a bit of unsure of how to approach Surtain about his problem. His worry was unnecessary because Surtain spoke again.  
  
"I felt your turmoil, Ron Weasley. You seek my counsel, yes?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Then have a seat and begin at the beginning." Ron pulled a chair near to the pulsing lights and sat down. He told Surtain about the entire day's events, leaving nothing out. When he was finally done he was nearly in tears.  
  
"That is an extremely heavy burden for a young man as yourself to carry. Especially, Ron Weasley, since you feel so much more strongly than any around you and any I've felt in a millennia. It seems obvious that Colin still causes you much friction."  
  
"I honestly don't dislike him at all, Surtain."  
  
"At the surface, maybe not. But on a deeper level, I believe that you may. This will hopefully change in time, but perhaps not."  
  
They chatted for hours until Ron looked out the window and saw the moon had fully risen in the sky.  
  
"Oh bloody hell! I'd better get back. Hopefully Filch and Mrs. Norris aren't around here."  
  
"Show no worry over those two, Ron Weasley. I can guide them safely away from you."  
  
"You can?"  
  
"I can exercise a few of my old abilities for short times. So go and worry not."  
  
"Alright. Thanks, Surtain." Ron looked back once and headed out the door.  
  
"Soon, soon I will have form again. After so long." had Ron poked his head back in the door again, he'd have seen a grey form standing in the middle of the pulsing ring. It seemed to be out of focus, hazy, but it was there and wasn't there before Ron's visit. "But I must be careful…"  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ On the back to Gryffindor tower ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Ron left the Astronomy tower feeling new again, just like before. It seemed that Surtain could channel all the evil feelings in him and draw them out and leaving him cleansed, like after a great massage.  
  
  
  
  
  
Well, now that I have my car back and along with it my notebook of writing, I can put more things up. Things aren't looking too good for ol' Ron, are they? Stay tuned. There will next be a little branching as I do a few POV's from the important characters. Who knows, maybe that S/N fluff I've been promising forever…. 


	25. Frisbees and Fluff

(Alright, this is the second time that I've posted this, it never showed up the first time, so maybe FF.N will not punk me out this time…..)  
  
Sorry about the big delay in posting. I didn't realize so much time had passed. In case you didn't know, I was in Jamaica for a week and when I returned I was hit by a rough bout of depression in which my only friends were a bottle of Jamaican rum, cigarettes, and chocolate Riesens. And after that, my *new* car, I repeat, *new* car was in the shop for a week with my story notebook in the trunk. And I won't even tell you about my stupid plumbing problems….  
  
It seems that whenever I go on vacation, everything goes bloody wrong when I get back. How is that fair??? Anyway, here we go with some POV's. these take place the day following the last round of fun and angst and lovey-stuff and center around the non-major characters (Ron, Harry, & Colin) and are in a sort of chronological order  
  
Oh, and Mare, stand by--it's coming!!!  
  
Sunday morning rolled into Hogwarts and found it oddly quiet. It seems that many of the students stayed up late the night before celebrating one thing or another and were for the most part sleeping in. We start our morning in the Gryffindor common room at about 6:30.  
  
Hermione walked down the steps from the dormitories into the room. Even on weekends she was still on her weekday schedule, something that greatly annoyed her friends. If anyone were in there to notice, they'd notice that she wasn't as chipper as she almost always is, and on a closer examination they'd see that her eyes were red and puffy. Whether that was from lack of sleep or crying, or maybe both wasn't clear. She took her time slowly walking around the room looking at everything as if she had never been in here before instead of it being her home for most of the past four years.  
  
She ran her hand over the backs of the chairs and admired the paintings. She turned and regarded the fireplace as if it were a strange creature. Finally she made her way over to her usual chair and sank in and sighed deeply. She ran her hand on the armrests and then up to her face and wiped her eyes. She sniffed a bit and stared into the fire.  
  
Hermione reached into one of the many pockets in her robes and pulled out a handful of parchments. Some were quite worn it seemed, and maybe had had a tear or two spilled on them. Some were newer, but no less tear stained.  
  
"Well, Hermione, you've been strong for everyone else these last weeks, so now can you keep it up for yourself?" she asked herself in a low voice. She cast her gaze on the top parchment for a moment and then again to the fire. "All this time, you've been able to focus on everyone else's problems. Now what?" she had no answer for herself. She again ruffled through the parchments, scanning over each of them for a second or two and then flipping past to the next.  
  
Hermione's mind turned back in time to the day that she came home to her home and found her parents, well, changed. She saw in the horror of memory how they'd tried to bring her over to the dark side. She saw herself running out of the house and down the street. She ran on and on, finally stopping. These were the same things she'd seen in her dreams ever since that terrible day. She would often wake up and stifle screams, but thankfully the few she didn't were drown out by Mr. Chainsaw Dean Thomas' snores (ha- I'd almost forgot about putting him over there!)  
  
She hid her pain so well that she could even hide it from herself from time to time. She simply couldn't get her mind around the fact that her parents had been turned into zombies or whatever they were now. She also never dealt with the fact that it happened. With all the drama around her with Harry and Colin and Ron and Draco, well, pretty much every boy in Gryffindor it seemed, she could bury herself in their problems and forget about it. Now that everything seemed normal again, she had to deal with it and she didn't think she could.  
  
She got up and took another stroll around the room. She stopped by the window and watched the sunrise. As it cleared the horizon, she saw it would be a very pretty day. Usually the sight of the sunrise cheered her up but not today. She put a hand against the glass and then her forehead. After shaking her head, she headed back to her chair and sat again, retrieving the parchments as she sat. This time she actually read them.  
  
Parchment 1  
  
Dear Miss Granger,  
  
Your parents have been placed in our care and we will do our best to right any wrong done to them by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. You have my solemn promise that they will receive the best possible care. We ask that you not visit as of yet, though I know that may seem hard, it is our opinion that it would be for the best. I will keep you informed with timely updates of their conditions.  
  
Thank you,  
  
Doctor Victoria Free, Head Nurse, St. Mungo's.  
  
The next parchment in her stack was dated a week later and was even shorter than the last.  
  
Parchment 2  
  
Dear Miss Granger,  
  
I wish I had good news to send to you, but as of now there has been no change in your parents condition. We are sure that we will make breakthroughs in the immediate future. Rest assured, they will get better.  
  
Thank you,  
  
Doctor Victoria Free, Head Nurse, St. Mungo's  
  
The next two were almost exactly the same. The only things different on them was the dates. The fifth was different though. It was a short note from Molly Weasley.  
  
Dear Hermione,  
  
I can only imagine how hard the last few weeks must have been on you. If things don't work out, and I'm sure they will, but just in case you are welcome to stay with us in the Burrow. You are almost family anyway. One more thing, I just want to let you know that if there is anything you need, don't hesitate to owl me. Anything, Hermione.  
  
Take care of yourself,  
  
Love,  
  
Molly  
  
She read through these many times, as if she was hoping to find a bit of previously overlooked good news on one of them.  
  
As far as she knew, no one knew that she'd been owled by St. Mungo's as she'd asked them to all be discreet and sent to the Headmaster instead. The last thing she wanted was Harry and Ron and the rest to worry about her. She prided herself on being the strong and stable one, after all.  
  
Hermione heard a door open on the steps above and feet begin to descend the steps. She quickly shoved the letters into her inner pockets and looked to her right. What she saw did make her smile. Dennis Creevey was coming down the steps. He was rubbing sleep out of his eyes and that made her imagine him in footy pajamas and carrying a teddy bear, just like a little boy on Christmas morning coming to the Christmas tree. He was nearly at the bottom of the steps before he realized she was there.  
  
"Oh, good morning, Hermione. How are-" he stopped in mid-sentence as he saw how she looked. "Are you alright?" He asked quickly, and maybe a bit protectively.  
  
"Yeah, I'm okay, Dennis, I just slept really bad last night."  
  
"Your eyes sure are red. You're sure you're okay?"  
  
"Yes," she said, giving him the Hermione smile, "I'm fine. I think it's just my allergies. All the rain and all, you know. Mold and things like that. Did you sleep well?"  
  
"Yeah, like a brick. I woke up to my stomach growling though. I'm starving. It feels like dinner was years ago."  
  
"Come to think of it, I'm rather hungry too, what do you say we go and get an early breakfast?"  
  
"Sounds good to me. Let's go." Hermione put her arm on his shoulder and the two of them walked out the door. Dennis was bright red and he hoped Hermione didn't feel his blush heat up her hand on his shoulder. He grinned at her and she smiled back.  
  
Almost an hour later, back in the fifth year boy's dormitories, a few people were getting rather annoyed with another's snoring.  
  
"Dammit, Ron, roll over already!" an Irish voice moaned from under a pillow. Actually it was the only pillow left on that bed, the rest having already been thrown at the snoring Weasley.  
  
"Give my pillow back, Seamus, you've already thrown yours," a rather Neville-ish voice called from under the covers.  
  
"Ronald Weasley, I swear to Merlin that if you don't shut that off, I'm going to skin you!" Seamus nearly yelled. His only response was a loud, stuttering snore, the kind of was apparently a Ron special and which in the past years had been nicknamed 'the Weasley' and Ron's kicking off of his covers.  
  
"I swear Seamus, I don't know which is worse, your yelling or Ron's snoring," Harry's voice called out from his bed.  
  
"Well, if you have any other way to shut him up, feel free to add it to the pile," Seamus replied. "Never mind, I've got the best right now."  
  
Seamus pushed back the covers and stepped out of bed. He climbed onto Ron's bedside table and looked back at Neville.  
  
"No Seamus, don't do that!" Neville pleaded.  
  
"Yes, it's time for the crazy Irish luchador to do his finishing move on the prone opponent." he grinned evilly at Neville and Harry. Seamus' father was an avid wrestling fan and Seamus loved it wildly as well, especially the crazy Mexican wrestlers.  
  
"Seamus, he's going to kill you, you know," Harry said in his last attempt to reason with the mildly psychotic boy.  
  
"Bah, El Shamrocko doesn't need your opinion, announcers." Seamus had slipped into his persona, El Shamrocko and was treating Harry and Neville as the ringside announcers. Harry and Neville couldn't help but laugh at him doing a horrible Mexican accent.  
  
With a flip that was incredibly graceful and all-out cool, he leapt from the stand landed belly first on top of Ron. He quickly hooked a leg and counted and waited as Harry and Neville counted him the winner as Ron was waking up.  
  
"Seamus, what the bloody hell are you doing?" Ron asked as Seamus jumped off him and started jumping around the room with his arms raised.  
  
"The winner and still the Hogwarts champion….El Shamrocko!!" he called as he jumped.  
  
"El Shamrocko again, eh?" Ron said as he was trying to get out of bed.  
  
"Ron, don't kill him. You were snoring rather loud." Neville said.  
  
"Oh, so the new way to stop someone from snoring is to jump on them as they sleep, is it? I see. I'll have to remember that," he said as he began chasing Ron around the bedroom.  
  
Seamus dove under his bed and shimmied out as Ron dove after him. He continued to elude the redhead for the next several minutes. Finally Ron stopped chasing him, obviously out of breath.  
  
"Fine. You get off this time. Next time, I'll have to take your belt as well as a piece of your hide."  
  
"Oooh, Ron, that sounds like an exciting match. I might let you win that one."  
  
"Hey!" Neville exclaimed.  
  
"Just kidding, Neville."  
  
"Seamus, you're, oh, I don't know what you are." Ron was a bit flustered at Seamus' innuendo. The other three boys were cracking up laughing, which of course made Ron more flustered.  
  
"Hey, Harry, are you hungry?" Seamus asked.  
  
"Well, now that you mention it, I guess I am."  
  
"Great. Now take the redheaded chainsaw with you and go get some breakfast."  
  
"What about you, Seamus?" Ron asked.  
  
"Umm…nope not hungry," Seamus replied.  
  
"Well neither am I," Ron told him.  
  
"Okay then, Harry you go to breakfast and Ron can stay here and watch the next match."  
  
"Next match?" Harry and Ron both asked at once.  
  
"Yep. An underwear match between me and Neville here."  
  
"Oh, you know what, I think I just heard my stomach rumble," Ron said, turning redder than he already was.  
  
"What's the deal, Ron? Don't wanna watch?"  
  
"No!! Come on Harry. Sunday mornings are always good - sausage, eggs, pancakes, maple syrup, come ON, Harry." Harry was led away by the arm by Ron.  
  
"Alright, I'm coming, Ron, sheesh. Let's stop and get Colin."  
  
"I'm coming, too," Seamus moaned after Ron, trying to make him redder still.  
  
"Shut up, Seamus," Ron called as the door shut behind him  
  
"Well, Mean Neville Longbottom, what do you think about all that?"  
  
"Well, El Shamrocko," Neville said, giggling at being parodied to Mean Gene Okerland (sp?) "it was a great match."  
  
"Glad you liked it. Wanna see my new move?"  
  
"New move? What is it?"  
  
"I'll show you." He slid back into bed beside Neville and wrapped an arm around him. "It's called the Snugglator."  
  
"Ooh, I think I like this one, El Shamrocko."  
  
"Good. I have a few more I've been working on. Think I should try them out?"  
  
"If they're anywhere near as good as this one, why not?"  
  
"Glad you're willing to give them a try. Here we go." Seamus leaned over and kissed Neville's soft lips. He stroked his face and pulled back. He smiled at Neville and gave him another short kiss.  
  
"I submit, El Shamrocko, I submit," he said as Seamus backed away again.  
  
"Good. Still the champion!" Seamus said as he pulled the covers over the two of them.  
  
"Why'd you do that, Seamus?"  
  
"So that Mare can't watch us, that's why."  
  
"Who's Mare?" Neville asked.  
  
"She's that girl who's peeking in our window, see?" Neville peeked his head out and saw a head at the window staring in. He waved at her and once she waved back he ducked back under the covers again.  
  
"How long has she been there, Seamus?"  
  
"Oh, for at least nine chapters now."  
  
"Huh? Chapters? What are you talking about?"  
  
"It doesn't matter. Now come over here."  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ about 20 minutes later ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
The two tossed back the covers and got out of the bed. Seamus waved to Mare again as the they grabbed their towels and clothes and walked hand in hand to the showers.  
  
Once they emerged from the steamy bathroom (water steamy or sweaty steamy?) they dressed and headed down for breakfast. They took their time, enjoying being with each other. Their leisurely stroll broke the hearts of many a girl in the hallways, Seamus was quite fancied after. This made Neville even happier.  
  
"I'm sure glad you're mine, Neville. I don't know how I'd gotten this far without you."  
  
"Me too, Seamus. Me too." he broke the hand hold and put his arm around Seamus' neck and the hand over Seamus' heart and looked him in the eyes.  
  
"It's yours. Forever," he said to Neville as it beat a bit faster. Neville smiled back.  
  
"I love you, you know," he told Seamus.  
  
"I know. And I love you." Seamus was looking into his love's eyes and not where he was going and he ran into someone rather unpleasant.  
  
"Hey you stupid Irish fag, you and your stupid boyfriend need to watch where you're going." The drawl was unmistakable. Malfoy.  
  
Seamus felt Neville recoil and shrink against his side after Malfoy spoke. "Oh bloody hell no!" he thought. "No one talks about him like that."  
  
"Irish fag? Is that the best you have, Malfoy?"  
  
"Seamus, come on, let's go," Neville urged.  
  
"No, this piece of trash isn't going to insult you like that."  
  
"Maybe you were deaf, Finnegan, but I insulted you as well," Malfoy snarled.  
  
"Oh, I heard you, but I could care less what a person such as yourself has to say."  
  
"Screw you, Finnegan," Malfoy said. "Take your idiot boyfriend on to breakfast and get out of my way."  
  
Neville pulled on Seamus' sleeve but Seamus shrugged him off. "Sometimes I wonder why you're always so bitter, but then I remember the reason why."  
  
"Oh really, and what is that, Finnegan?"  
  
"It's because you always wake up a-l-o-n-e, alone, Malfoy. Alone." Malfoy was at a loss for words so Seamus went on. "You have no one, absolutely no one. Oh wait, there is Colin. No, I almost forgot, he went home with, who was that again Neville? I seem to have forgotten."  
  
"Harry." Neville said very meekly.  
  
"Oh yeah, that's right. Harry. He went home with Harry."  
  
"Piss off Finnegan. Go to hell," Malfoy said as he stormed around the two. Seamus wasn't quite done yet.  
  
"I, the Irish fag, will take my lovely, intelligent, sexy bombshell of a boyfriend to breakfast and you can go back to your daddy's choice in friends and pout, Malfoy." Malfoy shot him the finger as he stomped down the hall.  
  
"You wish!!" Seamus called after and then turned back to Neville, who he saw was pale as a sheet. "Neville, are you feeling okay?"  
  
"I, I hate him Seamus. He has scared the life out of me ever since first year. every time I get near him, I just freeze up."  
  
"Well, that's going to stop. I'll not have him doing that anymore." he pulled Neville into a big hug and felt how the boy was still trembling a little. "It's alright, Neville. He's gone."  
  
Neville finally got control of himself and started walking again. "Do you really think I'm sexy?" he asked as they reached the Great Hall.  
  
"Is water wet?" was the reply and they stepped inside and made their way to the Gryffindor table. Instead of sitting down, Seamus picked his plate up and started walking back out of the Great Hall. When Neville didn't show any signs of following, he said to him, "Now is the part where you pick your plate up and follow me, Neville."  
  
Neville started to argue but the look on Seamus' face showed there was no room for negotiation, so he picked up his plate and followed him. They walked past a bunch of curious students and out the front door.  
  
"Here, sit on the steps. It's a lot more peaceful out here than the zoo inside."  
  
"Ah, okay." They sat down and started eating. Seamus broke the silence a few moments later.  
  
"Isn't this beautiful, Neville? The trees, the clouds, the grounds, everything?" Neville looked around before answering. He was right. It was a perfect morning. The sun was warm, the trees were in full color, and the clouds were wonderfully fluffy (just like this). "It is beautiful, Seamus."  
  
"Do you know what makes it perfect?"  
  
"What?" Neville asked back.  
  
"Sitting here with you," Seamus answered and put an arm around his back. They sat there for quite a while, together, a picture of perfection.  
  
(energy takes a time out to shovel some of the fluffy cotton balls away from the computer and chair before continuing.)  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Now on to Draco ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Draco left the encounter with Seamus and Neville feeling worse than before, if that was possible. He had been up well into the night trying to figure out the previous night. He lost Colin to Harry. That much he knew. What was bugging the fire out of him was why he cared so damn much. It was a game. A simple game. He lost. It didn't happen often, but it did happen. So why did it seem like there was so much more to it than that?  
  
That pesky voice in his head tried to speak again, but he squashed it quickly. He knew exactly what it would say. He actually wanted to win Colin for himself, not to beat Harry, but for himself. The whole problem with that is that wanting it for that reason would make him gay, and Malfoy's most certainly weren't gay. Being gay was for lesser-borns like that Irish fag, Finnegan.  
  
"If you're not gay, then exactly what the hell are you?" the voice asked before he could crush it again.  
  
"I don't know, but I'm definitely not *gay*," he said, not realizing he spoke aloud. Many people were staring at him and he found that intolerable.  
  
"What the hell are you staring at?" he yelled at a young Hufflepuff girl and her friends. They promptly ran off. He wiped a stray biscuit crumb from his robes with a frown and took the final turn to his common room in the dungeons. He flew into the common room and the people who had gathered in there parted like the Red Sea for him. Draco shot a few killing glances and went to his dormitory.  
  
Once inside, he tossed his robes aside and climbed back into bed. He kept replaying the whole Seamus and Neville incident over in his mind. How Seamus' words hurt him so, he couldn't fathom, but they burned in his soul like a white coal. Gods, how he hated Longbottom. He took every opportunity to make Neville's life miserable. He hated Finnegan too.  
  
He spent the next ten minutes or so trying to rationalize the last twenty hours and figure out what was going on with him. Every single answer he came to told him what he didn't want to believe. He seriously wanted Colin. He needed him. Desperately. And that made Draco Malfoy, the icon of perfection, gay. A fag. Like Finnegan, and potter, and Longbottom, and hell, an unlikely percentage of Gryffindor boys (ha). This final thought brought Draco to tears.  
  
"I can't be gay." he started bawling into his pillow. The more he cried, the worse he felt. He might have been there crying for a good half hour before he began to calm down. He was down the last throws and the sniffles when the door opened.  
  
"Uh, Draco, the guys downstairs said that you, um.." It was Crabbe. And Goyle behind him.  
  
"Leave me alone."  
  
"Are you crying, Draco?"  
  
"No. Now leave me alone."  
  
"Draco?" Goyle asked. "What's the matter?"  
  
"Nothing is the matter. Now, just leave me alone, please."  
  
"Something is wrong, Draco, why don't--" Goyle started but Draco interrupted him.  
  
"Are you two completely deaf. Leave me alone. Got that? Leave me the *fuck* alone. Goodbye." he rolled back over and pulled the blankets over his head and began crying again. Crabbe and Goyle exchanged perplexed looks, neither having seen this side of Draco and both being quite scared by it. They stepped out of the room and had a short conference by the steps.  
  
"Was he really crying in there?" Goyle asked.  
  
"I think so. That probably isn't a good thing."  
  
"Any ideas about what might have set him off?"  
  
"With him, who knows. What do you think we should do now?" Crabbe asked.  
  
"Stay here and make sure that everyone leaves him alone, that's what I think," Goyle answered.  
  
"Sounds good to me." The two crossed their arms and stood guard by the door until Draco came out some time later, puffy eyed and rather surprised at his door guards.  
  
  
  
About the time Draco had his little meltdown, Dennis found his friend Aidan and the two headed outside. The two had decided that this would be a perfect morning for a game of Frisbee, so they grabbed Aidan's and left. As they were down the steps to the main door, Dennis was telling Aidan about walking with Hermione to breakfast.  
  
"…And on the way down there, she had her arm on my shoulder the whole time. And then when we got to the Great Hall, she sat across from me."  
  
"Did you use silverware today, Dennis?" Aidan asked.  
  
"Of course I did. I didn't want to look like a slob in front of her, did I?"  
  
"No, only we get that pleasure, right?"  
  
"Yes. No!" they laughed as they walked out the front door and nearly fell over Neville and Seamus who were still sitting on the steps.  
  
"Hey, people sitting here, huh?" Seamus called as he helped Aidan back up.  
  
"Sorry, guys. Didn't mean to."  
  
"We know," Neville said. "Frisbee, huh? Have fun. It's a beautiful day."  
  
"It sure is. Odd for this late, so we had to be out here. Who knows when it'll be nice again," Dennis said as they walked around the two and out on to the grounds.  
  
"Kids," Seamus said.  
  
"Ok, old man…" Neville laughingly said as they watched the two boys march across the grounds and start playing.  
  
While they were walking across the grounds to the perfect Frisbee spot, Aidan asked, "Dennis? Does that bother you at all?"  
  
"What's that, Aidan?"  
  
"Well, the fact that Seamus and Neville are sitting on the steps holding hands and all."  
  
"Does it bother me? Not really. It seems a little different, but not bothersome."  
  
"What about your brother?"  
  
"What about him? He's my brother. He likes who he likes and is how he is."  
  
"Doesn't it just seem, well, odd?"  
  
"Why would it seem odd?"  
  
"Think about it. Remember how you were talking about Hermione a little while ago. What if Colin told you things like that about Harry?"  
  
"Well, I don't think it would bother me. I'm not going to love him any less just because he's with Harry and not a girl."  
  
"Do your parents know yet?"  
  
"I don't think so. I think I'll wait for Colin to tell them."  
  
"How will they take it?"  
  
"I'm not sure. My mum will be perfectly fine with it, I think. My da, on the other hand, well, I don't know if he'll be too happy about it."  
  
That seemed to quell Aidan's questions for a few moments and they tossed the Frisbee back and forth. Dennis broke the silence.  
  
"Aidan, does it bother you? Is that why you asked?"  
  
"I don't think it does. I just can't seem to get over seeing Seamus and Neville together, or Harry and your brother. I guess my brain just needs more time to get used to it. You two are almost like my brothers anyway, and everyone loves Harry…I don't know. I just don't want anything bad to happen to any of you."  
  
"Why would anything bad happen, Aidan?"  
  
"Don't you ever watch the news at home, or pick up a paper? Hogwarts seems to be a rather tolerant place, but most of the Muggle world isn't. Some people are beaten or killed just because of who they like. No other reason. Just because they're gay." Dennis seem as if he'd never considered this before and he looked shocked.  
  
"Well, if they want to do something to Colin because he loves Harry, they'll have to go through me first," he said strongly.  
  
"You know, Colin is really lucky to have you as a brother, Dennis."  
  
"He sure is," he replied and they both laughed and continued frisbeeing.  
  
  
  
There we go. Insights into some of the minor players' lives. I must say that the Seamus wrestling thing cracked me up as it came out of nowhere. It just seems to work great. I can see him watching the WWF and getting crazy. Mare, you just seemed to fit in perfect too. Another spur of the moment thing as well. I enjoyed doing the Neville/Seamus thing (or in digimon terms, a Seaville) so I'll likely do more. Poor Hermione. Marriage for Harry and Colin??? Hmmmm..hadn't considered that yet. Hang on a while. Okay, my hands are tired so I'm done for now.  
  
Peace out,  
  
energy 


	26. Dragon's Tale I

This is turning out to be an epic story. I find that rather funny since this was going to be a short little ditty to hone my writing skills. It was to be about five or six chapters but it came alive and won't leave me alone at all. I've even thought of how I could sequel it- and it's still a ways from being done. Anyway, just wondering if anyone else has noticed any improvement in my work over time because I've reread the whole thing and I sure have.  
  
On a similar note, I have again been struck by inspiration. This story was mostly a two axis story - Harry and Colin and Ron and the Spirit. Now it is tri-axial with Harry/Colin, Ron/Spirit, and Hermione/Draco. Now don't worry, it won't be a lovey thing, she's already taken (do you know by whom?). The actions of those two will be related a bit more now and I think add greatly to the story. Just stand by for some Malfoy. Happy reading…  
  
  
  
  
  
The day in which we saw some frisbeeing, a really tormented Draco, a caring Crabbe and Goyle (surprised? Me too), and a crying Hermione has passed. Most of the people involved in the events had gotten themselves back into the norm, except for Draco.  
  
Draco wandered the halls of the dungeons early the next morning. He had slept hardly three hours and he felt like a too-tightly wound spring. It seemed as if the skin he wore was made for someone a few months younger, hard pressed to keep everything in. He stopped a moment to look into a classroom door's glass. Yep, it looked like Draco Malfoy in the reflection, but he didn't feel like him anymore. Draco pushed a lock of hair back from his face and strode on.  
  
He thought back to yesterday when he came from his room and found Crabbe and Goyle standing in the doorway keeping everyone else from entering. He glanced on the clock behind him and saw that it was nearly 4:30 in the afternoon. Those two had been standing guard outside his door for almost four hours. Draco felt many things at that moment. One was that they were stupid oafs for staying in the same spot for that long. Another, and this was the stronger of the feelings, was that they were far from stupid, way beyond that. They were caring about him. Like a real friend would.  
  
A thought like that would never have crossed Draco's mind a scant week before. He would have called them morons and pushed past them like old women at the market, not that Draco Malfoy had ever stepped foot in a market, of course. Instead of pushing past the two boys rudely, he looked at the two of them a few seconds before speaking. The typical Malfoy insult didn't follow the inspection, but instead he simply said one word. "Thanks." The two nodded and gave slight smiles and let him pass.  
  
He wasn't quite sure, but Draco thought that he surprised the two of them more than himself by his reply. They seemed prepared for the normal insult, and weren't about to flinch from it. When they didn't receive it, they smiled at him. No one smiled around him unless it is out of meanness or a plan for future meanness. Now what the hell was the deal? He obviously wasn't the old Draco Malfoy anymore, so exactly who the hell was he? Or more importantly, was the fact that he wasn't the old Draco Malfoy anymore a bad thing?  
  
He was passing another classroom and when he looked into the glass in the door this time, he could have sworn that just for a second he saw his father in it. He even heard his father's voice in his head after the last questioning thought. "Draco," it said, "you'd better be the old Draco Malfoy when I see you next." Draco shivered uncontrollably for almost a minute. He finally got himself under control and looked back in the glass. No Lucius Malfoy in there. Only in his head. But the voice in Draco's mind said almost exactly what the real thing would have said.  
  
"Why do I have to be a bloody Malfoy anyway?" he asked no one. The other voice in Draco's head, his little and abused conscious, spoke to him for the first time in a while. "You don't have to be a Malfoy, Draco, only yourself, you know. You can be your own person, not just your father's son."  
  
The voice quieted down and let him think about that. It was right, he decided, but it wasn't as easy as it might seem. He couldn't just walk up to his father and say, "Hey pops, I think I've let you run my life long enough, so be so kind as to stick yourself up your own ass." That just screamed out life-ending beating. "Dammit all," he said to the wall behind him as he returned to his House to prepare for the day.  
  
He walked into his room and grabbed his shower items, casting a glance over the still-sleeping forms of the other four boys in his room. Snores poured from under the blankets of either Crabbe or Goyle, Draco wasn't quite sure. It could easily be either of them. He smiled absently at that. "Did I just smile at their snoring?" he asked himself. Then his next thought about knocked him to the floor in it's suddenness. "I've known them for this long and I'm not sure which one snores like that." Why that was such a powerful and apparently important thought eluded Draco as he turned on the water. He pondered it for a minute more and then relaxed as sound of the water cleared his mind as well as his body.  
  
Draco finished showering and dressed and began to prepare the 'Malfoy look'. He gelled his hair back, making sure that it was in perfect place. He picked any loose thread and lint ball from his robes. Once again checking his hair, he had another of those rogue thoughts, as he'd come to call them. "Why are you doing all this, Draco?"  
  
"Because, this is what I've always done."  
  
"Why?" the voice asked again before falling silent. Draco didn't have an answer for it. He looked in the mirror and found that he had absolutely no idea whatsoever. He shook his head, carefully so as to avoid mussing it up, and left the bathroom. Once back in the bedroom, he noticed that his two friends ("Are they really friends," he asked himself) had already gotten up and left the room. Draco half scowled at that detail. It seemed that they were going to forego bathing again today. Draco reminded himself to not sit too close to them.  
  
He left the bedroom and made his way to the common room and he noticed it was full of students, as it should be. He was making his way over to his two friends (he had decided that yes they were friends) when he was called to by another Slytherin standing by the two.  
  
"Hey Draco, want to help us hex the Gryffindor's plates before breakfast?"  
  
Without a second thought, Draco replied, "No." He looked to Crabbe and Goyle and said to them, "Let's eat, guys." Saying that they were surprised was a gross understatement. Usually, the answer would have been a resounding yes. But he simply blew it off and walked to the door. Crabbe and Goyle exchanged puzzled glances and followed Draco out of the room.  
  
"Did I say 'no'?" Draco asked himself as he headed up the steps toward the Great Hall. He replayed the incident in his mind a half dozen times and each time he found that he did in fact say no. This puzzled the fire out of him. Why would Draco Malfoy, Gryffindor hater extraordinaire, not help belittle them? "Because that's not you," the voice in his head told him. He walked on, thinking.  
  
As he rounded the corner and took the steps down he looked at the people around him. To his left he saw a boy he knew only as Smythe, his last name. He'd been in Slytherin for four years now and Draco had no idea of his first name. To his right was Pansy, one of the few people he called by their first name. Actually, now that he thought about it, he could likely count the first names he knew on one hand, maybe two if he thought real hard. "And these are to be my friends," he said to himself as he reached the bottom of the steps.  
  
Draco slowed his pace considerably, causing most of Slytherin house to pass around him and continue on their merry way. Crabbe and Goyle stayed at his pace, just behind him. Pansy slowed for a second and turned to him and received a furrowed brow and cold stare for her effort. She sped up and rejoined the rest of the students. "Whatever becomes of me, I'll never be able to stand her," he told himself and smiled. "Even a Hufflepuff's patience would be sorely tested on her," he thought and smiled a bit bigger. He entered the Great Hall with Crabbe and Goyle a good thirty seconds behind the others.  
  
"Draco, what's going on with you today?" Goyle asked, genuinely concerned.  
  
"Nothing," Draco snapped, then was surprised at himself. "Well, that's not entirely true," he said in a reconciliatory tone. "I honestly don't know, Goyle." they took their seats well away from the others in the house, at the end of the table far from the usual Draco Malfoy spot. The boys had just begun digging into their breakfast when mail came in. Draco never had been fond of getting letters from home, and this morning was no different. He was looking absently across the room and happened to see Granger catch a letter dropped to her. The same owl dropped a letter to Weasley next and sped out the way it came. She opened it and Draco saw a quick pain spread across her face, quick in that it was covered almost before it showed. Draco knew that trick and knew it well.  
  
He would have watched her further but he received a letter of his own. "Great, it's from home," He thought as he slowly opened the end of the letter. Draco steeled himself for the verbal abuse he knew was coming and he unfolded the parchment. He read on, getting a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.  
  
"Son," the letter said, "It has come to my attention that your marks in Transfiguration are less than satisfactory. It has also come to my attention that many of the accursed Gryffindors in your class have higher marks than you, especially the Mudblood Granger…" The letter went on another four paragraphs outlining Lucius' displeasure with his son and the things that would occur if the marks didn't improve. The last line, seemingly an afterthought, read "Your mother wishes you well."  
  
Draco felt his face redden, part from shame and part from anger. He crumpled the parchment up and stuck it in his robes to dispose of in the fireplace a bit later. All he felt now was impotent rage to his father. No longer hungry, Draco pushed his plate away from him and tried to think of something else.  
  
"Goyle," he said, "I mean Gregory, what's your favorite color?" Draco had no idea where that come from. Gregory Goyle looked at him in surprise, more from being called Gregory than the question.  
  
"Um, well, I guess green."  
  
"No, what is *your* favorite color? What color do you like?"  
  
"Um, red?"  
  
"Is it red? There isn't a right or wrong answer, you know."  
  
"Then it is red, then."  
  
"Then why did you say green first?"  
  
"Um, that's what my parents have always bought for me are green clothes."  
  
"Exactly." Draco said that to both himself and to Goyle. "You like red. You're bought green things. Have you ever told them that you like red?"  
  
"Yes, but they said that Slytherins wear green and that I should wear green."  
  
Draco looked as if he'd just discovered the theory of relativity. "Because that's what they thought you should wear." Draco nodded his head back and forth and got up from the table. "I'm going to get to class a bit early, see you two there." Draco strode away from the table leaving the two boys exchanging confused looks.  
  
Draco's thoughts were certainly not on Transfiguration or Herbology or even Potions that day. Wherever his mind was, it was not in Hogwarts. He wandered the grounds after the last class, thankful to be alone. He did appreciate the fact that Crabbe and Goyle "No, Vincent and Gregory," he told himself, were trying to get him to talk, but he wasn't ready yet.  
  
His stroll took him out near the quiddich pitch and he saw people flying around, practicing. As he came closer, Draco noticed the Gryffindor colors on them as they flew. He went to one end of the field where there were a few low benches and he sat on one of them. He was supposed to hate them, but did he really? No, probably not. And why was he supposed to hate them? "Because my bloody father says so, that's why," he said aloud.  
  
Draco became angry again. "Who am I?" he asked. "I know who my father wants me to be, but who the bloody hell am I?" The clouds and the wind gave him no answer. The wind, which had grown colder as he'd been walking, gusted and blew his hair askew. Running a hand through it, Draco turned and headed back to the castle. He surely didn't want to be around his housemates yet, so he went to the library. The library was known to the Slytherin community as Gryffindor Territory, so they usually stayed away unless required by law, or Snape, to be there.  
  
As Draco entered, he saw that it was rather empty which suited him just fine. He walked thru the stacks of dusty books and looked at a title here and there. He spotted a book on one of the lower shelves bound in blue , his favorite color-not green, and lowered himself to glance at the title. He was crouching down when he heard a muffled sob a bit further down the stack, on the other side. It was definitely a girl, or maybe a first year boy, Draco decided. He heard a second voice comfort the first. His interest raised, he quietly moved down the row.  
  
"Everything will be okay, Hermione," the second voice said. Granger? Granger was crying? Draco slid closer still, trying to hear more.  
  
"I don't know anymore. I really don't," Hermione replied in between sobs.  
  
"Hermione…" the second voice started but was cut off by Hermione.  
  
"I've been so strong for so long. I've helped Harry and I've helped Ron, and now I can't seem to help myself at all."  
  
"Listen, I know that they will do everything they can to help your parents. That's what they do there. They heal people."  
  
"Ginny, you didn't see them. You didn't see the way they looked, so horribly wrong after the Death Eaters did whatever awful thing they did to them. They looked completely gone. Whatever was left inside was mad, completely mad. I don't know how much longer I can hold out hope."  
  
"Death Eaters? What is Granger talking about?" Draco asked himself. "Oh," he thought, suddenly remembering the events over the summer. And Ginny who? Weasley? Likely.  
  
"Hermione, how come you've never talked to me about this before now?"  
  
"When everything was going on, with Harry and Ron and Colin and Draco and all, I didn't have time to hardly think about it. I could shelf it and focus on their problems. Now since those are mostly set in order, I have a bunch of free mental time." Hermione was crying freely again now.  
  
Draco was torn apart by grief. He saw himself back in Diagon Alley, when he made fun of the attack on her family. He recalled it word for word.  
  
**"Crabbe, what's a shame?"**  
  
**"Uh, I don't know, Draco."**  
  
**"When a Mudblood house gets attacked by Death Eaters. Now Goyle, what's a crying shame?"**  
  
**"Um, I don't know either."**  
  
**"When one of them isn't home."**  
  
He remembered it so clearly. He had never even thought that she had feelings then. She was only a Mudblood. The two girls continued talking, all the while Draco listened and his grief rose. As Hermione talked on about how she hurt inside, Draco was drawing near tears. He was wishing that she'd stop talking or that he could leave, but he stayed, feeling like this was his penance for his earlier actions. Finally the two took leave.  
  
Draco sat back on his knees and broke into tears. Draco Malfoy was crying. Oh, was this ever grand? Tears flowed down his face in streams. He hitched and sobbed as Hermione had done before. "And my father wants me to follow in his footsteps and become a Death Eater too," Draco thought and wiped an eye. "He wants me to become just like him." Draco wiped his other eye. "He wants me to hurt people just like he did." Draco slowly got to one knee and paused as a thought raced across his mind.  
  
"Did my father have a part in that?" A few more tears leaked out. "He likely did," Draco decided. "Never," he said aloud, "never will I do that." he was still a bit shaky as he got to his feet and slowly walked out of the library, the blue book laying in the floor. Draco's favorite color.  
  
He returned to Slytherin house and entered the common room and found people milling around. He shot them all the patented Malfoy scowl and proceeded to his room. There was conviction behind the scowl this time, the same that used to go with the scowl he gave the Gryffindors, but now he liked the Gryffindors more than his own housemates.  
  
He laid down on his bed and proceeded to think many a thought. 


	27. The Return of Ginny!! (not that she's i...

Ginny's back!! We've not seen her since, what? The second chapter? Hoo- rah! Well, enjoy.  
  
  
  
"Harry?" Colin called to Harry as the boy stepped from the locker room after his quiddich practice. "Hey Harry, did you see anyone else at your practice today?"  
  
"Well, I was actually too busy to really pay any attention. I did see you toward the end, though. Why do you ask?"  
  
"Well, this might seem odd, but I could swear I saw Malfoy walking away as I was coming out to the field."  
  
"That doesn't seem too odd. He was probably sizing up the competition. We do the same thing to them, you know."  
  
"That might explain it then," Colin answered as they walked back up to the castle. He shivered in the cold wind and Harry put his arm around the boy and pulled him a little closer. Colin put his hand around Harry's waist and beamed at him. They walked into the castle and headed to the Gryffindor tower.  
  
The common room was alive with activity. Harry spotted Seamus and Neville with Ron in a corner, Seamus animatedly describing something and Ron blushing profusely. "Let's go save Ron, huh?" Harry asked Colin. He got an affirmative nod.  
  
"…And after the chocolate hardened, Ron, we…Oh hey Harry, Colin, how'd practice go? Are we ready for Saturday?" Seamus said in one breath.  
  
"Hey Harry!!!!" Ron nearly yelled in relief.  
  
"Hey you guys," Harry replied. "Having a good time, Ron?" Harry asked with glee in his eye.  
  
"Oh he's having a great time Harry, I was telling him about how Neville and I used some of that hardening chocolate syrup you put on ice cream last night when we…"  
  
"Okay, Harry, I'm hungry and you have to be starving after practice so let's go get dinner, what do you say?" Ron burst out very quickly and on a single breath. Harry saw the pleading in his eyes as well as the mirth in Seamus'. Harry barely suppressed a smile and nodded. Ron bolted past Seamus and Neville to his side and they left the two boys in the corner.  
  
"Colin?" a very Dennis-y voice called and Colin turned to it.  
  
"Have you seen Hermione?" Dennis asked the two of them.  
  
"Not since last class," Harry responded and Colin shrugged and shook his head no. Dennis looked very sad, so Harry continued on. "You might want to try the library, Dennis, rumor has it that she has a cot there." Dennis beamed back, clearly happy at the thought of finding Hermione and shouted his thanks as he sprinted for the doors.  
  
"SeeyouintheGreatHallinalittlebitguys" he said as he jumped through the hole.  
  
"He certainly has a thing for her, doesn't he?" Ron asked.  
  
"Ron, you don't even know," Colin told him, remembering Dennis' room at home.  
  
"I think it's cute," Harry said and smiled at the thought of the two of them together.  
  
"Not as cute as you two are," Ron said and looked at the two of them. He saw the look of thanks in their eyes, especially Colin, and felt his face begin to flush. "Now come on and lets eat," he added before either could speak. He walked ahead of them to hide his face (gotta love how redheads blush, huh? The slightest thing and *wham*- red.) but as they exited the portrait hole Harry called back to him.  
  
"Hey Ron," he called. Ron turned to him, about half red.  
  
"Yeah, Harry?"  
  
"Thanks," Colin answered.  
  
"Er, no problem, guys." Ron turned around walked on, oblivious to the grins behind him as well as a slight snicker from Colin.  
  
"He is still a bit uncomfortable, isn't he Harry? Just a tad?" Colin whispered to Harry.  
  
"I think so. He's almost over it, I think."  
  
"I hope so," Colin said quietly and took Harry's hand in his own. They continued their walk down the steps to the Great Hall and soon found themselves surrounded by plates of delicious food. Ron was busy talking with his mouth full about all kinds of things at once, as was the norm. Harry kept searching the room and the doorway for any signs of Hermione. She didn't seem herself today.  
  
Harry had tried to get her to open up to him during Herbology, but he seemed to be missing the required Granger gene to force people to spill their inner thoughts and demons. She simply shooed him away in typical Hermione style and told him that she'd be alright and not to worry about little old her. Besides, she told Harry, he had a beautiful boyfriend that needed the attention much more than she did. Harry set off after a smile and one last fruitless effort to find that beautiful boyfriend of his before dinner.  
  
Twenty minutes had passed since they'd arrived and still no sign of her. Even Seamus and Neville had arrived, somewhat flushed, but they had beaten the ever-punctual Hermione to the table for the first time in probably forever. He kept looking up though, hoping that she would walk in and he could talk to her, but instead of Ms. Granger, he saw the younger Creevey enter the Hall looking a bit unhappy. It appeared that he didn't find Hermione after all.  
  
Dennis slowly walked over to their table. He had the look of a boy who'd just lost his puppy dog. He arrived at their side and sat down with a sigh and a humph.  
  
"What's wrong," Colin asked, not liking the look on his brother's face.  
  
"I missed her. I didn't find Hermione."  
  
"Well Dennis, Hogwarts isn't that big of a place you know. You *will* see her again." Harry thought to himself that Hogwarts was a whole lot bigger than most people knew about, but kept that information to himself as Colin spoke again. "Speak of the devil Dennis, there she is now, walking in with Ginny."  
  
Dennis spun around in his seat and fell off. He picked himself up as gracefully and quickly as he could, hoping that she'd not seen him do that. Color was rising to his face and neck as he spoke to her, "Hermione, are you okay? Is everything alright?"  
  
"Yes, Dennis, I'm doing okay." The table took that with a grain of speculation. Hermione's eyes were a little puffy and red making it look as if she was either crying recently or suffering from a bad case of hay fever, and since she'd never had allergies before and it was almost October anyway, she had likely been crying. Dennis looked the least convinced. She put a hand to his shoulder and told him "Honestly Dennis, I'm fine. I just had a girl moment, you know how we get sometimes. Oh, and Ron, I saw that look on your face. Don't even say it. Just go on stuffing your face with potatoes, right?"  
  
Ron started to say something but decided against it and smiled instead. Harry and Colin laughed, as did Seamus and Neville, and Dennis stood in awe looking at Hermione. Seamus looked over to the slack-jawed Dennis and pushed his mouth up and closed. "Mate, you'll draw flies if you keep it open like that, you know." Dennis closed his mouth and grinned at Seamus. "Okay, now you should probably sit down. There you go, that's a good boy." Seamus was helping Dennis into a chair since he was still not quite functioning properly.  
  
"You're sure that you're alright?" Harry asked her.  
  
"Yes, boys. I promise that I am fine. Thanks for your concern, but remember what I told you earlier, Harry," she said giving the slightest head nod at Colin.  
  
"I remember, but I always have an extra few minutes, you know." Hermione didn't reply to that she simply smiled and picked up her fork. Harry looked her over but she'd put up her stone face and Harry couldn't read a single thing off her. He directed his gaze over to Ginny who had so far remained silent since her arrival but she wouldn't meet his gaze. He raised an eyebrow (in that sooo sexy way only he can-or maybe it's just me..) at her but she was closely studying her plate. Harry made a mental note to talk to her after dinner was over.  
  
Small talk took over, none of it dealing with the events of Hermione's day, and they all left the table after another thirty minutes or so. Harry was still going to talk to Ginny once they'd returned to the common room and Seamus had made up his mind that he'd have a little chat with the younger Creevey as well.  
  
One person watched all the excitement and events of the Gryffindor table from across the room. He had barely eaten a single bit of his dinner, in fact all he'd managed to do was migrate his potatoes all the way around his plate twice, pushing the beans before them. "She's going through some major grief over there, but she is laughing and cutting up with her friends," he thought. He looked around his table and saw no one that he would consider a remotely close friend. His two usual companions weren't at his side since he'd left them up at their usual place at the table and come down here past the first years.  
  
He watched as they all left the table in a group. He felt a feeling wash over him, one that he'd not felt in so very long. Longing. Everything he'd ever wanted was laid before him except now. He wanted true friends, ones that would be beside him even if he weren't Draco Malfoy but a simple and unknown child. He wanted what they had over in Gryffindor tower. He heard an old saying pass through his head then, the one that says that money can buy a lot of things but it can't buy happiness. How true. How very true that was.  
  
He glanced up where Crabbe and Goyle were sitting and it seemed like miles instead of maybe fifty feet. He was going to tell them he was leaving and that he'd see them later, but he saw that they were talking with the others around them and seemed to be having a decent time. Draco changed his mind and simply got up and walked to the door instead. "They deserve to have a good time. Besides, I need time to think," he told himself, "and it's a lot easier without the two of them around."  
  
Draco wanted to believe that his father wasn't behind the attacks on the Grangers, but he couldn't. Ever since he'd overheard Hermione and Ginny, that was the only thing he could think about. He certainly knew that his father was a big enough bastard to do it, but he wanted to hope that he didn't. He was getting closer and closer to deciding for sure that he did and it was for some reason breaking his heart.  
  
"I surely don't love my father, I don't think I ever really have," he said to himself as he walked through the corridors. What he was afraid of was another old saying, this one went "the apple never falls far from the tree." Draco certainly didn't want to turn out anything like his father, especially not now after he learned how the Death Eaters attack hurt Hermione.  
  
It wasn't exactly a secret to Draco his father was happy that You- Know-Who had risen, and that he expected his son to take his place at the Dark Lord's side. Up until recently that was what he was going for. No longer. He reached the Slytherin house and said the password of 'Gryffindors suck" with no enthusiasm whatsoever. As he walked in he took a look around his room. Just being in here made him hate himself, everything he'd ever done, and everything he might ever do.  
  
"How many times has he done it before," the voice in his head spoke up.  
  
"Done what, kill?" he asked the voice and the empty room, but he knew the answer already. "dozens of times, I bet. I'm sure he had a hand in the killing of Harry's parents, doing whatever he did to Hermione's, and if it weren't for Ron's dad being in the Ministry, he'd probably have gone after him as well.  
  
Draco went to his room and changed for bed. It was early, but he had taken a liking to being alone in the halls and common room before everyone else rose to think. He crawled into bed and shut the curtains around him. He waved a lazy silencing charm and fell asleep wondering what he should do.  
  
Far away from the sleeping dragon, there were many conversations going on in the Gryffindor common room at that time. Most of them are completely unimportant, but maybe humorous, but they shall not be told here. Instead, we shall focus on Harry and Ginny and Seamus and Dennis.  
  
As they walked into the common room, the group had settled by the fire since the tower had taken a bit of a chill by now. They continued the conversations they had downstairs and a few more. About ten minutes after they sat down Ginny excused herself to use the restroom. Harry thought that this was his chance, so after a another minute he did the same. He waited by the door to the girl's lavatory and when Ginny came out he accidentally scared the life out of her.  
  
"Oh, I'm so sorry Ginny, I didn't mean to scare you. I just need to talk to you a minute."  
  
"Um, okay Harry, what's on your mind?" she said, sort of afraid of where this would go.  
  
"I want to know what happened to Hermione today. She won't tell me anything and I think that it is something that is important."  
  
"Harry, I don't know if I should tell you, it was sort of a girl thing, you know?"  
  
"Look Ginny, I don't want to pry, and I certainly can't force you to tell me, but if something is wrong with her, I'd like to know about it." she looked like she was considering his statement, so he went a bit further to seal the deal. "She's been here for me all the times that I've needed help, and as you know, there's been a few of those, so please Ginny, tell me."  
  
"Okay Harry. This is what is going on. She's been getting letters from St Mungos now since the attack happened, and there has been no change at all. She said that she is beginning to lose hope for them. It's really tearing her up inside."  
  
"Oh man, why hasn't she said anything to us before now?" Harry asked himself as much as Ginny.  
  
"Well, she said that with everything that was going on until now she didn't have to worry about it if she focused on your problems and Ron's."  
  
"Hermione, why do you have to be supergirl all the time?" he shook his head and pushed his hair back.  
  
"Harry, please don't tell her I told you, because I'm afraid she won't do it again if she knows I blab it to everyone."  
  
"Alright, I'll find some way to get her to open up, I just have no idea how as yet. Thank you, Ginny. Now let's get back, this tower is bloody cold now." She smiled at him and they walked back down.  
  
Seamus was waiting, biding his time, waiting for Dennis to leave the group for some reason or another but the boy wasn't moving. Finally, after Harry and Ginny returned from the restroom, he'd waited long enough. Seamus stood as if to stretch out his muscles, but instead of sitting back down, he stepped to his left and picked up the young Creevey by the armpits and carried him away. "Nothing to see here, nothing to see, so go on about your business." Everyone stared at him but Seamus was oblivious to it.  
  
"Seamus, what the heck are you doing?" Dennis asked after Seamus set him down in another corner.  
  
"I'm here to help you, and believe me boy-o, you need it."  
  
"What are you talking about, Seamus," Dennis protested.  
  
"What I'm talking about is you need a lesson in love, young master Creevey."  
  
"In love? I might need a lesson in Transfiguration maybe, but not love."  
  
"Oh, puh-lease," Seamus said, rolling his eyes as dramatically as possible, "you certainly need a lesson in love, and the doctor is in."  
  
"Whatever, Seamus. Just make it quick. I wanna get back over there."  
  
"Back over to who, exactly, Mr. Creevey? Hermione maybe?"  
  
"Um, er," Dennis pulled at the collar of his robe.  
  
"I am correct, as usual. You need my help, or all you'll do is fall out of your chair and stare at her. And I'm sure that is not what you have in mind, right?"  
  
"You can't tell *anyone* about this, Seamus, alright?"  
  
"Well, I hate to break it to you, but you are about as easy to read as a large print book, master Creevey."  
  
"So you're saying that everyone knows?"  
  
"No, Draco Malfoy probably doesn't know. Ron probably doesn't, since you've not punched him in the groin and yelled that you love Hermione in his face yet. So to answer your question, not *everyone* knows."  
  
Dennis smacked his hand to his forehead. "Oh man, she probably is over there laughing at me now." He risked a glance over there and sure enough saw her laughing.  
  
"They are most certainly not laughing at you. They're laughing at me, most likely. Anyway, I'm going to teach you how to woo her and make her yours."  
  
"Seamus, I don't want you to take this the wrong way, but um, will your wooing work on Hermione? She is a *girl* and all, and well, you know, uh, you're going out with Neville."  
  
Seamus had mock shock on his face but was so convincing that Dennis thought that he was offended. He started to apologize but Seamus cut him off. "You're so cute, now be quiet for a minute." He ruffled Dennis' hair and continued after the boy smiled. "Don't worry, Dennis, I'm not easily offended. What I'm about to show you would work on either sex, and although I am dating Neville as you've pointed out, I've honed my talent over time on many people. So just listen and take a mental note or two." Seamus leaned in close in a conspiratorial manner and Dennis did as well. Seamus' tone dropped many decibels and he talked for quite a while with Dennis going wide eyed in a few places and laughing in others. He once got a deep blush and whispered that he could never do that, not in a million years, but Seamus disagreed. The two boys talked for hours.  
  
Neville finally disturbed them at nearly ten o'clock. "Hey you two, it's getting late." he looked at Seamus and continued. "I'm going to bed now, so don't be too long, you crazy boy." Seamus looked into his eyes and realized then just how lucky he was. So lucky to have someone like this by his side everyday and night.  
  
Dennis saw it as well. He saw the warmth in the smiles between the two boys. He smiled at the two of them and yawned. Truth be told, he was actually rather tired. "I think I'm going to bed as well, so Seamus, thank you for your great lesson, and I'll see you two in the morning." he stretched and walked up the steps to his room.  
  
"Goodnight, Dennis," they called together. "And what lesson did you teach, Professor Finnegan?" Neville asked.  
  
"Oh, a little bit of love 101. That's it."  
  
"You're not thinking of sleeping with a student for a better grade, are you?" Neville asked him in complete jest. He knew that Seamus would never cheat on him.  
  
"Well, he does have the nicest face, so cute and all…" Seamus joked. "Of course not, love, I'm yours for life, like it or not. Just like luggage. Besides, he likes Hermione. I suppose if I charmed him enough, he'd come around…"  
  
"Oh, we'll see about that, Professor," Neville said in a mock serious tone. "Now, as I said, I'm going to bed now. Coming with me?"  
  
"Oh yes. Very definitely."  
  
  
  
First off, thanks for reading. I still love feedback. Anyway, sorry this has been updated so irregularly recently, but I've picked up a second job to help get me out of debt. So, as you can imagine, I don't have as much free time to type around as I did before. But, the story is almost completely written out in my notebook, so now all I have to do is find time to throw a chapter's worth on my sloth like computer and upload it. We're starting to wind down in case you didn't notice yet so get ready. You might want to get a box of tissue ready, if you know what I'm saying. I'll not know how sappy and sad it will be until I actually type that part, but if it turns out like my notes, stand by.  
  
Well, keep looking back. There will be more in the not to distant future, hopefully no later than Wednesday. Yeah!! 


	28. A Turned Back

Gryffindor tower turned in early for the most part that night and with a few exceptions, fell to sleep quickly. Some slumber was peaceful and deep while some had odd and strangely realistic dreams again. Prophetic dreams.  
  
Hermione was one of the last Gryffindors to pull the curtains to around her that night. She was still quite upset from earlier although talking to Ginny did make a big difference. Hermione set her mug of cocoa (for some reason I typed cocaine first, I have no clue why…) on the nightstand and laid back on her pillow. With one hand she pulled the covers up and with the other waved the candles out. She expected to be up long into the night but fate took over and dropped her into slumber early.  
  
The first thing that she saw in her dream world was a gigantic moon hanging extremely low in the sky. It seemed as if she could tiptoe and touch it, it was that close. Her head panned down and she saw a grassy field filled with a handful of people in a small circle. A few of the people were arguing animatedly and pointed at each other, mostly a man and a woman dressed in what appeared to be olden clothes, perhaps from the time before the Romans.  
  
Everyone turned on the man and drew weapons. In her dream, Hermione screamed and looked away. She looked at the sky and heard a blood curdling scream, a deep, rattling death throe, and then nothing. Dream-Hermione had closed her eyes at some point and when she opened them again the landscape changed dramatically. She was in Hogwarts. She wasn't sure how she knew it, but she was. More precisely, she was on Hogwarts. A roof, maybe. The moon was the same as before, just as low and predatory. Her gaze lowered again and this time she saw Ron. They were now standing in a room now, she and Ron, and he was gazing intently at his hands. "Oh Merlin," Hermione screamed, not in her dream, but to herself. She remembered this from before. Something horrible had just happened, but what she didn't know or couldn't see. This time, Ron only had one thing in hand, a glowing, fiery orb. Ron was clearly agonizing over a decision of some sort and he finally chose one after what seemed like hours in the dream world. He held it up and there was a rush of flames that clouded her vision.  
  
Hermione woke sitting up in bed. She barely held in a scream by biting her tongue. The only sound she heard in the dorm room was Dean's snoring. (he's still there) Hermione realized that she was out of breath and put her hand over her fluttering heart. "That was a lot like last time," she said quietly, not worrying about being heard over the snores. "I wish I knew what it all meant." She replayed it as best she could and tried to compare it with what she remembered with her previous dream like this one. She was almost sure that Harry was in the first one, but not quite absolute. No Harry this time.  
  
She glanced over at her table and saw that it was only 1:43. She didn't plan on going back to sleep anytime soon, so she picked up the closest book, her oft-read and dog-eared History of Magic, and began to read until the creeps she felt went away. She finally drifted off sometime after three.  
  
Not far away, in the boys dorm, fateful dreams awaited a few more souls. Long before Hermione had her dream, Harry and Colin said goodnight to Ron and Seamus and Neville and climbed into Harry's bed. They pulled the curtain around them Harry cast a silencing charm, not to keep their noise in, but Seamus' and Neville's out.  
  
This was the time of day that Harry loved the most. He settled himself down into the mattress and pulled the up the covers. Colin scooted close to his side and nuzzled his head on top of Harry's arm. Harry moved it a little and mussed up Colin's hair just a tad and smiled at him. The stone around Harry's neck was glowing with faint heat, as it nearly always did when Colin was around and it warmed the chilly tower nicely.  
  
"I love you, Colin." Harry told the smaller boy.  
  
"I love you more, Harry," Colin replied. He usually smiled at this time, but he didn't and that caught Harry's attention.  
  
"Is something wrong, Colin?" he asked. Colin wouldn't meet his gaze for a few seconds before finally looking up to his face.  
  
"Harry, you aren't, well, you aren't mad at me because we're not, you know…" he trailed off.  
  
"We're not what Colin?" Harry said in between yawns as he looked into his soul mate's eyes.  
  
"We're not um, well, doing what Seamus and Neville do, are you?"  
  
Harry paused for a second as his brain translated Colinese into the queen's English. "Colin, that is not important to me at all. I won't ask you to do anything you don't want to do or aren't ready to do. I love you for who you are, nothing more, nothing less. Being with you is enough for me." He reached his head a little further down and kissed the top of Colin's head. "I love you, just remember that."  
  
"Thanks Harry." Colin said as he draped an arm around over Harry's chest. The two boys fell asleep to the soft warmth of the stone and their love.  
  
Harry found himself in a dark field. He walked around and discovered that he was in some sort of burial ground. He could tell by the crude grave markers that it was very old. The ground was then illuminated by an enormous moon. The marker closest to him appeared to have some sort of runes carved into it. He looked at them but could make no sense of them except for the first one which he recognized as the symbol for an 'S'.  
  
Dream-Harry was still studying this marker when a small child came to him and pulled on his sleeves for attention. Harry looked down at the boy, some part of him already knowing what the lad would say and he was correct. "They have your beloved." That was all the boy said before Harry started to pull away. The boy grabbed him again. "They have Colin." The boy disappeared after that and Harry saw himself from across the way. He had pulled out the stone he wore and was brandishing it at something. The other Harry yelled something and a gout of flames enveloped him a minute later. That was the last thing he remembered before he woke up, sitting up in a cold sweat with Colin calling to him. Harry didn't hear him for a little while.  
  
"Harry!!" Colin called for the fifth time, and by this time he was crying. He shook Harry's shoulder rather hard, trying to shake him back to now.  
  
"Colin," was all Harry said and he wrapped his seeker arms around him. Now Harry was the one crying. He sobbed into Colin's shoulder for a long five minutes.  
  
"Harry?" Colin said once Harry had calmed down some, "was it a bad dream?"  
  
"It was horrible. All I remember is that someone took you from me and that there were flames. Many flames. That's all."  
  
"Well don't worry. I'm here and I'm not going anywhere. I promise." "This is quite the opposite of normal," Colin thought to himself. Usually it would be him with the problem and Harry would end up holding him until he stopped crying. Colin found that he liked this after all. They fell back asleep with Colin stroking Harry's head and whispering in his ear that it was only a dream.  
  
A few feet away, Ron lay in his bed tossing and turning as usual. He was having another odd dream with Professor McGonagall on a fashion model's runway in the latest Spring Fashion. The silliness of that dream faded quickly into somberness. Ron found himself back in that indigo field he had last seen in the middle of summer. Ron knew that he had been here before somewhere in the back of his mind, but he was unable to do anything as the dream progressed.  
  
Ron walked on as before, searching for something, or someone, he wasn't sure. He crossed England's countryside at great clips, hundreds of miles in a few steps. He ended up in some old stone building and there was a large moon hanging over his head. He had arrived, wherever it was. He now had to find whoever it was he was looking for. He walked in and looked around for a bit, suddenly feeling very dark and cold. Something had obviously just happened, but he didn't know what. He just felt groggy. He looked to his right and saw Harry suddenly wrapped in a wreath of flame and fall backwards.  
  
A voice then spoke to him, a voice that had ageless wisdom and power. "You have the power to right a wrong at this very moment if you choose to do so, Make your choice."  
  
Dream Ron made his choice. Everything sped up to chipmunk speed and the only things that Ron remembered when he awoke a few seconds later was one more burst of flame and Hermione's piercing cry of his name. He sat up in bed and looked around. He was still in his bed but he was terrified of something. He couldn't quite remember what, he almost never could remember his dreams. Something about flames and Hermione screaming.  
  
"Dammit, Ron, think. What was that about?" he told himself. It weighed heavily on his mind, the meaning behind it became vital to Ron. He racked his brain but only remembered what he did before along with a deep, old voice. Nothing more. He knew that sleep was not going to come back to him anytime soon, so he bundled up in his robes and returned to the common room. He waved the fire back into life and hopped down in front of the fireplace. An hour or so later he dozed off into the typical deep Weasley slumber.  
  
The dreams that they experienced faded into the backgrounds of their memories soon after they woke up, nothing more than nagging feelings of something that they should remember, but not quite able to.  
  
[A/N here: I honestly have lost track of chronological time for this story, so as of right now, I am arbitrarily setting it as the third week of October, just in case you care.]  
  
The group was eating breakfast the next morning, enjoying oatmeal, but mostly not talking about what happened to Hermione the last evening. Finally, Harry could restrain himself no longer and her turned to face her. "Okay Hermione," he began but she cut him off and allowed him not another word on the subject he was going to broach.  
  
"Harry, you know, you never have really explained that stone to me." Harry looked resignedly at her and realized that if he was going to discuss last night, it would be Hermione who began the discussion, not him.  
  
"Well, like I told you a while ago, it came in the mail by eagle soon after school started. I put it on and it's glowed with a bit of heat ever since. Sometimes it flares up a lot warmer and brighter, but it is usually like this." Harry pulled it out of his shirt and showed Hermione.  
  
"Interesting. It is warm. When does it get warmer and brighter, Harry?"  
  
"Well, it's usually like that when, um," Harry stopped to think for a second. "Well, it's like that when Colin is around for the most part."  
  
"Very interesting," Hermione said. "I'll have to spend a bit of time in the library on that, I believe." Harry was about to tell her to not worry about it, but telling her not to go to the library was like telling Ron not to breathe.  
  
"You know, Hermione, it will be a lot easier for you once you memorize all the books in the library, don't you think?" Seamus asked her.  
  
"I suppose it might. I'm over halfway there," she said.  
  
"Was that a joke?" Harry asked.  
  
"I don't know, was it, Harry?" she responded. Harry laughed at her, but there always was that small outside chance that she was telling the truth.  
  
The day went on as nearly normal as it possibly could. Hermione still hadn't brought up the previous evening and spent the majority of her free time in the library looking up information on Harry's rock. Seamus and Neville did all sorts of cute things, although Seamus did take a bit of time out to work with young Dennis more.  
  
"Here, Dennis, practice what I just showed you on Neville here," Seamus told Dennis.  
  
"Okay, here goes." Dennis cleared his throat and turned to Neville. "Excuse me, Nev- I mean Hermione, could I have the pleasure of this dance?"  
  
"Why certainly, Dennis," Neville said in a poor copy of Hermione's voice. This caused Seamus to cackle madly. Neville laughed too, but Dennis wasn't laughing.  
  
"I'll never be able to say that to *her*, Seamus."  
  
"And exactly why not, Dennis?"  
  
"Because, whenever I get around her I loose the ability to talk. I just stand there and look like a statue. I can't do it."  
  
"If you can say it to Neville, who in my completely unbiased opinion, is a lot more attractive than Hermione, you can say it to her."  
  
Dennis giggled at Seamus' comment, and the three of them went on with their impromptu lesson.  
  
[[[Author's Note: I really am loving this Dennis and Hermione thing I've set up and it won't stay out of my head at work. But, I don't think I can do it justice here in this story. Fear not, for it will be done justice in its own story in the not-to-distant-future (like once I finish this monster). Just look for 'The Courtship of Hermione Granger'. In this story, I'll just leave Dennis as a fawning loverboy.]]]  
  
In the Slytherin common room at about the same time--  
  
"Hey, Draco, wanna come with us and harass the Hufflepuffs?" Draco looked up from his text and saw the face of Christopher Dunn, a younger Slytherin, in front of him.  
  
"Nope. Sure don't, now go away," he replied, liking the shock on his face. Christopher was extremely puzzled at Draco's reply because he had always seen Draco jump at the chance to harass anyone.  
  
"But Draco, you love that, are you alright?"  
  
"I hardly think it's up to you to decide what I like and dislike, don't you. And yes, I am quite sure that I don't want to come with you," and as an afterthought, he added, "And why exactly do you like doing this, Dunn?"  
  
"Well, we've always done it, it's like a tradition."  
  
"That's not a reason. Try again. Do you even like it?"  
  
"Um, yeah, sure I do."  
  
"Right. Now run along and play your games." he looked at him as if he had a finger sprouting from between his eyes. "Go. Catch your little friends." He took off, throwing one glance behind her.  
  
"How could I have been that way?" He asked himself. There was no answer, so his mind drifted. He came back to reality after rethinking all the things that he'd done to people over the years, how horrible he'd been to everyone, all the suffering he'd caused. A tear actually fell from his eye. Hardened Draco Malfoy was shedding a tear of remorse. As it fell, he felt a new light fill him. He felt clean, clean after years of being dirty. He rose, intent on getting dinner before as many Slytherin as he could.  
  
He arrived in the Great Hall and it was only beginning to fill. He sat at the far end of the table, his new seat, away from the students in his year and past the first years. He was halfway through his meal when the hall was filled.  
  
Across the way, Harry and the gang were enjoying their dinner as usual, being friendly as normal, when Hermione looked across the room and noticed Draco sitting by his lonesome. 'Hey Harry, what do you make of that?" she asked, nodding her head to the dragon.  
  
"Well, it would seem to be a problem with Draco and the other Slytherin, I wonder what it's over. Where're Crabbe and Goyle, I wonder."  
  
"They're with the other students, where he used to sit."  
  
"Hmmm…interesting," Harry said and they all watched as a small drama portrayed itself on the Slytherin table.  
  
Draco was nearly finished with dinner, all he had left was a bit of applesauce, when he felt the hairs on the back of his neck bristle. He turned to his left and looked down the table to see the rest of his class staring at him. Instead of giving them any response at all, he simply showed them his complete disinterest and picked his spoon back up and finished eating. They were still watching him when he stood up and faced them. He looked over the faces of the people he'd shared classes with for years and saw nothing friendly at all. Draco stood his ground for a full minute, not backing down from their glares before he turned to his right and turned his back on his house. Draco felt the eyes boring into him as he walked slowly and deliberately out of the room, but he cared not a bit. In fact, he felt even better than before.  
  
"Well I'll be damned," Harry said, completely shocked. His thoughts were mirrored by the rest of the group and a few others as well. They had been silent throughout the stare-down and had hardly taken a breath.  
  
"I wish I knew what went on over there," Hermione said.  
  
"Well, Draco, that wasn't about the smartest thing you've ever done," he told himself as he left the Great Hall. "Oh well, it had to be done," he said aloud. Somehow he knew that going to the Slytherin room was the last place he should be now, so he went wandering throughout the castle halls and eventually came to rest in the Astronomy Tower. 


	29. Dragon's Tale II

Draco opened the door of the Astronomy Tower and walked outside. The night was a bit chilly this evening; it seemed as the Indian summer they'd enjoyed was gone and winter was just a few days away and . He pulled his robes a little closer around him and walked to the edge of the tower and looked over the land.  
  
"How many people out there have been affected by something my father has done?" he asked the chill wind. He leaned against a battlement and sighed. "Probably more than I'll ever know." he answered himself. For a half a second, he considered jumping, but squashed that immediately. "Oh no, you have to own up to this, Draco," he told himself. Exactly how he'd own up to everything and make amends filled his mind for a long while.  
  
*******************  
  
Draco's solitude was finally interrupted by everyone's favorite problematic redhead, Ron Weasley. "Surtain," he called as he walked through the door in a rather reckless way, "Surtain, are you here?"  
  
"No, there's no Surtain here," a voice called from the shadows by the battlements.  
  
"Oh shit," Ron said in a low tone. "Malfoy? Is that you over there?" *Dammit*, Ron thought. *I'm busted for sure now.*  
  
Draco stepped from the shadows and walked back to Ron. "Yep, it's me."  
  
"What are you doing here, Malfoy?"  
  
"I was about to ask you the same question, Ron."  
  
"Malfoy, if you rat on me I swear that I'll hit you so hard I'll knock your sleeves off." Draco made no reply and had an unreadable look on his face, so Ron continued trying to feel where the situation was headed. "I'm serious, Malfoy, you'll---wait, you called me Ron just a minute ago, didn't you?"  
  
"Yes, Ron, I did. Now why would I go and 'rat' on you anyway?" Ron was quite stunned and hesitated before continuing.  
  
"Well, Malfoy, as to why you'd rat on me, well, maybe because that's all you've done now for the past four years."  
  
"Well, Ron, allow me to tell you this small truth. The Malfoy of the past four years is no more." Ron looked unconvinced, so Draco continued. "In the last few weeks, I've discovered that almost everything I thought I knew was wrong. Do you know how unsettling that can make a person feel, Ron?"  
  
"Uh, no. Not really."  
  
"Well, trust me, it is definitely not good. My rugs were shaken out from under me." Ron looked puzzled. "It's an old saying Ron, a proverbial type of thing. Anyway, I've learned so much in the last weeks, much about myself, and much more about other people." Draco got a bit closer to Ron and talked very solemnly now, "You're right, all of you. I'm no different than anyone else." He walked back to the edge of the battlements and gestured out across the land. "You, me, everyone out there, we're all the same."  
  
"It only took you fifteen years to figure that out, Malfoy?" Ron questioned a bit harsher than intended.  
  
"I guess I deserve that, and a lot more actually. It did take a long time, Ron, but the important thing is that I did learn it, wouldn't you think?"  
  
"Well, I guess you're right." Ron furrowed his brow and thought for a second before continuing. "Malfoy, can I ask you a question?"  
  
"Of course, Ron, go ahead."  
  
"Why are you telling me all this?"  
  
"I guess it is my way of getting things started." Ron had question marks written all over his face, so Draco explained. "I've decided that I need to reconcile quite a few things I know about and that I've done over the years, and I needed to start somewhere."  
  
"What exactly do you mean by reconcile, Malfoy?"  
  
"It means to put things to rights, to settle old debts--"  
  
"I know what it means, but how are you going to do it?"  
  
"Honestly I don't know yet. I guess every case will be different."  
  
"You'll be very busy, you know."  
  
With a big dose of sadness, Draco replied, " I know. Terribly busy." He turned and started walking to the door. When he got to Ron, he stopped.  
  
"Ron, I'll start here. I know this might not mean a lot, but I swear I mean it. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything I've put you through over the years. I'm sorry for degrading your family. Everything Ron, everything. If I could right those wrongs, I'd do it in a heartbeat." Draco looked for any type of emotion on the face of Ron, but saw none. He continued walking to the door.  
  
"Hey, one thing before you go," Ron called as Draco was turning the knob. "Thanks, Draco." Draco smiled at Ron and walked out the door. Ron decided that Surtain would have to wait for a night, as he had many important things to tell Harry and company. He waited a minute or so to allow Draco time to get back; exactly why he wasn't sure, and then followed out the door.  
  
***********************  
  
After Ron left the Astronomy Tower, the circle in the floor appeared and in the middle the spectral form of Surtain took shape. "That I did not foresee. I sense that this other boy may cause problems. I must watch him closely for I've waited far too long and have come too close to lose now." Surtain allowed his form to break apart and drift in the light wind  
  
************************  
  
Ron was almost back when he stopped dead in the hall. Something Draco had said had rung a bell in his mind. A very faint bell. Ron couldn't quite put his finger on what it was, though. It was sort of like déjà vu, or having something on the tip of your tongue but not being able to grasp it. He did a wonderful imitation of Winni the Pooh when he crossed one arm and tapped his head with the other, but it didn't help.  
  
Ron gave up after drawing blanks and headed on into Gryffindor tower. It was late and the common room was mostly empty, save the important characters (how convenient, huh?) sitting by the fire. Harry and Colin, Seamus and Neville, Hermione and Dennis were sitting close by, with Dennis and Hermione not as close as the other couples (much to Dennis' chagrin).  
  
"Guys! And girl," he added after seeing Hermione's look of reproach, "You'll never guess who I just ran into!"  
  
"Santa Claus!" yelled Harry.  
  
"The Rock!" guessed Seamus.  
  
"Trent Reznor!" said Hermione.  
  
[[[A/N: whenever me and my friends play trivial pursuit or another similar game, any person we have no idea about is automatically Trent Reznor, from NIN. Example: who developed the carburetor? Trent Reznor? I just had to add that, even though Hermione is much more an Oasis type than NIN. Anyway…]]]  
  
"No, though I would like to meet Trent Reznor (no he wouldn't, I would, anyway). No, it was Draco Malfoy."  
  
"Really?!" Hermione asked breathlessly. "What's up with him?"  
  
"Geez, Hermione, turning into a bit of a gossip, huh?" Neville kidded her.  
  
"No, I just *have* to know what happened tonight."  
  
"Then that would make you a gossip, dear," Seamus told her in jest.  
  
"Anyway, Ron, what did he say? Did he threaten you or anything?" Harry asked.  
  
"No, he was a different Draco than I've ever seen before. He told me quite a bit, actually. More than I'd ever have expected Draco to tell *me*."  
  
"Wait just a minute here, Ron. You're calling him *Draco* now and you've called him *Malfoy* for the last four years and change. What's up?" Harry asked Ron.  
  
"Well, he has changed you all, honestly he has. He said he's learned a lot about himself in the last weeks he said. A whole lot."  
  
"Like what? That he's gay?" Seamus asked.  
  
"You know, a lot of you boys have been learning that this year…" Hermione said and gets a high-five from the spectral hand of energy (me!). "Well, you have.." she said as they looked at her oddly after she slapped five on the author. "Go on Ron."  
  
"Like I said, he told me he's learned a lot. He said everything he thought he knew was wrong. He admitted to me that he was the same as everyone else, no different because he's a pureblood or anything."  
  
"Wow. It only took him fifteen years to figure that out," Neville said.  
  
"That's exactly what I told him. He said he that he is going to start reconciling with everyone he's harmed before."  
  
"That will take a long, long time," Colin said.  
  
"I told him that too," Ron said, getting tired of getting interrupted. "He said he would be very busy. And then he did the one thing that I would have thought would have happened only after I ate Snape's shoes, he apologized to me."  
  
"He did what?" was asked in unison by the six teens around him.  
  
"Seriously. He apologized to me for everything he's done and I honestly believe he meant it.  
  
"Bull," was all Seamus replied.  
  
"Seriously, Seamus. He meant it. They talked on for hours about this and what it might mean to everyone in Hogwarts. Midnight rolled around and they finally gave up. Colin had fallen asleep in Harry's lap and he gently rose and carried him off to bed. Seamus and Neville draped tired arms around each other and headed up the steps. Hermione looked at the sleeping Dennis and was wondering what to do with him; she didn't want to leave him sitting on the chair all night, when Ron spoke softly.  
  
"I'll get him, Hermione. Go on to bed."  
  
"Thanks, Ron. I don't think they'd appreciate it if I sort of walked into the second years' dorms right now, you know."  
  
"Well, they might appreciate it more than you think, Hermione, more than you might think."  
  
"And just exactly is that supposed to mean, Ron?"  
  
"Well, just think about it for a while. I'll see you in the morning." Ron picked up Dennis and marveled at how light he was. He carried him in one arm and took him to the room, leaving Hermione to ponder his last comment. He grinned to himself when he heard her call from the common room.  
  
"Ron! That is gross! Completely gross."  
  
Ron opened the door to Dennis' dorm and walked as quietly as possible to his bed. He pulled the covers back and laid the child down. He was taking his shoes off when Dennis stirred but didn't quite wake. He got the second shoe off and was setting them by the nightstand when he saw a book pushed halfway under the bed. There were pieces of paper or something sticking out of it randomly. Ron had the sudden burst of curiosity we all get when we're alone (or the only one awake) in a friend's room and he picked the book up.  
  
The cover had *Memories* written across it in enchanted ink, making it glow and swirl in the soft light. Ron opened the book and saw that it wasn't paper, but pictures that were hanging out of it. He turned through it and saw all sorts of pictures, everything from a family vacation somewhere, pictures of the Creevey's house, Colin with no front teeth, and tons of photos of friends. Ron flipped through, liking the way he could look into Dennis' memories. Many photos of him and Aidan, the whole gang, Hagrid, everyone. Toward the back was one that caught his eye the most and held him there.  
  
It was the picture that Dennis had snapped in the hotel room in Diagon Alley so many months ago now. Harry and Colin were snuggled up together like two birds of a feather and were at complete peace. "This was right after whatever was wrong with me started," he thought, "it has to be. I'm sure that's a room in Diagon Alley." [[[Ron has been there, correct? In book 4?]]].  
  
Ron started to put the book back on the floor, half under the bed when his hands took a little action on their own. Without his even realizing it, he picked that pic from the book and stuck it in his pocket in a move that would have made even the best shoplifter jealous. He returned to his room a short while later and just as deftly stuck the pic in a drawer. He would remain completely ignorant of its being there or the manner in which it arrived until the end of the story.  
  
  
  
Okay, bet you thought I'd forgotten about that pic, huh? Not totally. I forgot to include it about five chapters ago and it finally fit here. Well, how do you like the new Draco? I like him. He rocks.  
  
I'm going to florida for the next few days (for a vacation from my Jamaican vacation and all the troubles I had when I got home) so stand by. When I return, I will jump ahead a few weeks (the next few are unimportant except for a lot of fluffyness and Draco/Slytherin troubles (I'll hint on those) - and I really want to get to the end. I've had it written in my head for weeks.) we will start back with the MQM (mandatory quiddich match), Headlines, and a talk between Draco and Hermione as the fall term begins to draw to a close.  
  
In other news, I've put a list of my upcoming stories on my author page. Check them out. I'm getting excited about a few of them (another reason to put this one to rest) especially Halo2. You'll also find a few of my favourite stories there (the john madden one is hysterical and Unthinkable Thoughts is long but a wonderfully written Harry/Draco) check them out too. And while you're there, drop Hikari no Tenshi, Lucifers Life Saver, heehee, and BMillsWrites an email and tell them to write more.  
  
Thanks, energy… 


	30. Adventures in Draco-Sitting

Confused about the little line about Ron not knowing about the picture? Just wait a bit longer…. Anyway, here's chapter 30!!! Thirty. I can't believe it. Wow. Now get on with it, energy…  
  
This chapter will jump ahead a bit. We'll start the morning after Draco's talk to Ron and then go from there.  
  
The day after Draco's revelation to Ron was a Friday, the day before the last quiddich match of the fall term. All of the important Gryffindors were still a bit shocked and stunned over what Draco said and were waiting for the blond Slytherin to make his way to breakfast. It seemed that Draco had already begun his rounds of reconciliation and word had gotten around because the entire room came to a dead silence as he strolled into the Great Hall. Draco made no sign as if he noticed or cared and sat by himself in his new spot at the far end of the Slytherin table. When he began to dive into his stack on pancakes most of the attention fell away and people turned back to their own breakfasts  
  
The gang was discussing their upcoming Transfiguration test when Harry happened to glance up and see a group of Slytherin leave their seats and begin making their way down to Draco.  
  
"We might have trouble here. They don't look like they're going to shake his hand," Harry said.  
  
"His neck maybe, but definitely not his hand," Seamus added.  
  
"I'm not going to sit here and watch this," Harry claimed and stood up and stared dead at the approaching group, now about three quarters to Draco.  
  
Harry stared them down and they hesitated a second. Seamus stood up as well, as did Neville and Ron and Colin. The stare down continued as more and more Gryffindors stood. Hermione, Ginny, Dean (!), and at least a dozen more stood up and dared the Slytherin to act. The much smaller group of Slytherin gathered together and whispered quickly and headed back to their seats. Once they'd returned, Draco mouthed 'thank you' to the still standing Gryffindors. Ron and Harry nodded and sat down.  
  
"That was a very bad thing we just stopped," Hermione said after a bit of silence.  
  
"We didn't stop it, Hermione, we just postponed it," Neville told her. "We aren't around Draco all the time and all they have to do is wait until he's alone."  
  
"Well, then I guess that we'll just have to be around him all the time, then," Harry said. He looked around and saw many unsure faces. "Look everyone, he might deserve to be beaten, but not for that reason. I won't stand by and let Draco be pounded just because he has finally become a human being. I'll do it alone if I have to." Harry went back to eating his pancakes, less than inspired by his friends' lack of interest.  
  
"So now we are Draco-sitters? Cute," Seamus said.  
  
"I guess you could call it that, Seamus," Colin told him.  
  
"No one is forcing you to do this, you realize," Harry told Seamus.  
  
"Oh, I agree with you. I won't let it happen either. It just seems a bit odd you know? Just last week he was a completely different Draco Malfoy, and now he is a new person."  
  
"Tell me about it. I thought he'd be an ass forever," Hermione said, startling them with her colored language.  
  
Breakfast ended and the group broke up to head to class. Ron, Seamus, and Neville stayed behind to escort Draco to his class. Harry was walking with Colin to the younger boy's class and as he was leaving he said, "Thanks guys."  
  
"Not a problem," Seamus told him.  
  
When the three Gryffindors fell in line with Draco, he was a bit surprised. "What are you all doing? Harry just left with Colin, that way," he said, pointing toward the door.  
  
"Well Draco, after the near-incident a little while ago, we decided that it might be in your best interests if you aren't alone with your classmates as much as possible," Ron told him.  
  
Draco was rather astounded. "I hardly think that is necessary. Thank you though."  
  
"It isn't up for debate, Draco. Like it or not, you're stuck with Gryffindor body shields for a while now," Neville told him.  
  
"So even if I tell you that I don't want your help, you'll still be here?"  
  
"Correctamundo, Draco. We aren't going to let your housemates get you if we can at all help it," Seamus said.  
  
"Thanks then. I never figured that I would be worth the trouble. Thanks." as they walked on to class, Draco began apologizing to the lot of them. For the duration of the day, whenever he went anywhere aside from the Slytherin common rooms he had the gold and scarlet escort. Draco did refuse to sleep anywhere but in his own bed at night though.  
  
"I won't run from them. If they want to do something, it won't be unchallenged, believe you me," he told them. "I'll see you all in the morning, whether I like it or not, right?"  
  
"You got it," Colin said and Harry and Ron and Dennis grinned. They Gryffindors returned to their tower and started getting ready for the next morning's match. Gryffindor was to play Slytherin and it was looked to be one hell of a game with all the surrounding circumstances.  
  
The next morning everyone was up early, too excited to sleep in, even on a Saturday. Harry ate a quick breakfast and headed on his way, leaving everyone else in the Great Hall. Draco came down the next morning, looking fine as the day before.  
  
"Maybe they weren't going to do anything to bad after all," Hermione said aloud, not quite believing her own words but wanting to.  
  
"Nay, they've probably just decided that they don't want El Shamrocko after them," Seamus said, cracking Neville up while he flexed in a supposed wrestling pose.  
  
"Yes, Seamus, that is exactly what it is. They're scared of El Shamrocko. I can't say I'd blame them though, really." Hermione was also laughing and nearly in hysterics after Seamus made another series of poses and flexes.  
  
"I'm going to go find out the story. I'll be back." Hermione got up and started walking over to Draco.  
  
"See, I told you all, she is becoming the queen gossip around her. Didn't I?" Seamus said and everyone laughed a bit at Hermione's expense.  
  
Hermione returned a short while later and told them that the other Slytherin left him completely alone the previous night but he refused to say much more. She relented, saying that they'd be keeping an eye on him just the same from their booth.  
  
"Maybe he wants something to happen." Ginny said as she stabbed her eggs.  
  
"I'd hope he'd have the sense not to--" Hermione's reply was cut short as the morning mail flew in from the ceiling. Hermione slumped a bit in her seat when she saw the same owl as usual fly to her. It was from the hospital and she knew in her heart that there was still no change and it would be a near copy of the previous letters she'd been receiving. She took the letter and gave the owl a strip of bacon. She stuck the letter in her robes to open away from everyone else.  
  
Also getting mail that morning was a certain Draco Malfoy. His father's owl flew gracefully to him and simply dropped the letter in front of Draco and left. 'That's probably not good. Not a howler, but not good.' he thought. He opened the letter and read the short note inside.  
  
"Were I not extremely busy at the moment I would already be at Hogwarts to get a firsthand explanation of exactly what the hell you're doing. You might want to rethink your recent ways, Draco. You can rest assured that you will not join us in Bavaria and remain at Hogwarts over the holiday break."  
  
That was it. Busy? What was his father doing that was so important to make him miss a chance to beat and berate his son? Likely nothing good. Draco tucked the letter under his robes and finished his eggs, hoping that his father stayed busy until the day he died. Draco did scoff at the last line. Oh, no, he wouldn't be spending the holidays with his family. "Big loss there," he said quietly. Draco finished and headed back to his common room to get ready for the match.  
  
Breakfast broke up and nearly the entire school made their way out to the quiddich field for the match. Both teams made their ways out to the field in completely different fashions. Harry and the other Gryffindors were all together cheering and pumping themselves up. The Slytherins were separated, Draco walking about ten feet behind the rest of the team. Not once did they so much cast a glance in his direction.  
  
"Uh oh. They're shunning him," Hermione said to her classmates and fellow Draco-sitters. "You don't think that they'd--"  
  
"I doubt it Hermione, they want to win too badly to risk anything now. Draco might be persona-non-grata, but he is still a very good seeker. Not as good as Harry, of course." Seamus looked at Colin as he said the last part, making sure that Colin knew that he wasn't putting Draco and Harry in the same category.  
  
"I hope you're right, Seamus," she answered back.  
  
The match began and it quickly lived up to the ugly game everyone thought that they'd see. Without a doubt one of the most brutal matches in years, every point was paid for with much pain and suffering. After nearly an hour of no snitch, Gryffindor clung to a very narrow 20 point lead, 90- 70.  
  
Another five minutes passed and Hermione's prediction began to come true. One of the ogre-ish Slytherin beaters missed a routine bludger and let it sail unabated to Draco. He barely avoided it and had to dive a good forty feet upside down. Draco looked at the beater and only got a shrug as a reply.  
  
"Oh my!!" Hermione said. "He missed that on purpose. I know he did."  
  
"You might be right," Colin said as he waved his 'Go Harry' flag.  
  
Draco narrowly avoided another 'missed' bludger and was starting to get very worried. He searched in vain to find the snitch and end the match before he got killed. He searched fruitlessly though.  
  
The Slytherins apparently changed tactics right about then as instead of simply 'missing' bludgers coming Draco's way, they began to hit them at him, doing everything in their power to de-broom their own seeker.  
  
Harry was flying in relatively clear skies when he finally spotted the snitch. He glanced out of the corner of his eyes as a Slytherin seeker swung his bat and knocked a bludger not at him, but at Draco, from nearly point-blank range. Draco was intent on following Harry so he wasn't paying the least bit of attention. The bludger caught him right below the armpit on his left side, throwing him from the broom with amazing force. Harry saw the Slytherin beater grin evilly and fly off. The gold blur of the snitch sailed ahead, but Harry ignored it and dove after Draco.  
  
He caught up with Draco about fifty feet from the ground and grabbed him around the waist. Harry pulled up and managed to get the seemingly unconscious Draco on the broom in front of him. The announcer was going mad at that point, screaming about how terrible that was and how that beater should be expelled and all. When Harry caught Draco the announcer called "And Harry catches the Slytherin snitch. Not bad Harry, but the one you want is gold in color, not green."  
  
Harry landed and set Draco on the ground by the waiting medical staff. He took off to end the game and did so shortly thereafter. During the Gryffindor celebration, Snape handed out weeks worth of detention to the entire Slytherin team for their actions and inactions. The nurse lifted his robes up and saw a huge bruise forming and a few cracked ribs. Draco was carried off to the hospital wing, leaving them wondering how he would be.  
  
"He'll be fine, Ginny," Hermione told her as Ginny was almost crying.  
  
"That was just so wrong. Did you see him?"  
  
"Aye, Ginny. It was. Don't worry. Those marks won't go unpunished. I promise." Seamus was pissed. Actually, pissed is too mild a word. Spitting nails is closer. He set off to find Harry and a few others.  
  
Time passed and most of the Gryffindors had returned to their common room and begun to celebrate properly. They were joined about half an hour later by Seamus and company who looked quite smug about their work. They gave no details however, only nods that something had happened. Ron took a chair in the corner and sat by himself. Hermione looked over at him and began to get concerned. She couldn't recall him saying but five words all day, and there he was sitting by himself. She took a short stroll over to him and sat down beside him.  
  
"Ron, what's wrong?"  
  
"Nothing really Hermione, I just don't feel too good today."  
  
"Let me ask you again, Ron. What's wrong? Don't give me a generic answer either."  
  
He gave her a quarter of a smile. "I'm just sad again. Sort of like before."  
  
"Is that all?" she asked, pressing for more details.  
  
"Well," he considered telling her it was, but he figured what the hell and continued. "sometimes I seem to forget what I've been doing or even where I've been recently. I'll fin myself in the library or in a supply closet and have no idea how I got there. I 'awoke' to find myself carrying a wooden table up a flight of stairs a few days ago." Hermione looked very concerned. "It doesn't happen very often, just every now and then. The sadness is bothering me more."  
  
"Ron, I want you to go and see the nurse. I believe you are suffering from depression. I mean it Ron, I really do. It isn't something to be taken lightly."  
  
"Hermione, I promise you that if I don't feel any better after the holidays, you can take me down there yourself. I just don't want to spend Christmas in a hospital, you understand, right?"  
  
"I guess Ron. But if you get really bad, please come and talk to someone. Anyone, Ron. Promise?"  
  
"Sure. Now go have a good time, Hermione and try not to worry about me too much."  
  
"Someone has to, Ron" she told herself as she was walking away. She spent an hour celebrating and then made her way to the library to try to find out more about Harry's stone. She'd looked for hours already and found nothing. She was bound and determined to know what it was soon.  
  
She had spent nearly two hours searching through some of the moldiest and largest books in the library and was getting increasingly frustrated when she heard a soft voice over her shoulder.  
  
"Hermione? May I talk to you a moment?"  
  
Hermione turned around to see none other than Draco Malfoy standing before her dressed in a simple black robe with an obvious bandage under one side. "Draco? Are you well enough to be out of the hospital already?"  
  
"Well, maybe not, but I told them I was. They gave me something for the pain and the ribs have already started healing, but I couldn't stay in there anymore. I sort of snuck out when the room was empty." he said quietly.  
  
"So what brings you up here, Draco?"  
  
"I was taking a stroll, since I really don't want to go back to my common room yet," he told her.  
  
"If it were up to me, you'd not go back at all. You'd stay out of there forever."  
  
"Thank you for your caring Hermione. That is something I've not quite gotten used to yet. And that brings me to something else I've been meaning to do now for a bit."  
  
Draco pulled up a chair and sat across from Hermione, wincing as he did so. "Hermione, I want to apologize to you for everything I've done to you. All the terrible jokes I've pulled, and most of all the horrible things I've said." Both their minds went back in time to the day in Diagon Alley. Hermione's eyes got a little moist, and Draco looked for her reply.  
  
"Thanks, Draco. It really does mean something. When Ron first told me what you told him that night, I couldn't believe it at first."  
  
"I know. I could hardly believe it myself. I just discovered who I was that day and when he came across me in the Astronomy Tower, I had just made up my mind. He was my first." he was quiet for a second, and then started to laugh until he hurt. "Not my first like that, I mean, but my first apology."  
  
Hermione laughed with him and once they'd settled down, she asked a question. "Draco, you said he was in the Astronomy Tower, right?"  
  
"Uh huh. Why?"  
  
"I'm just wondering why he'd go there. He said he was going to walk outside."  
  
"He sort of stormed in the room, looking a little desperate. He didn't see me at first because I was over by the railings when he came in. he was looking around and called out some name I've not heard before."  
  
"What name was that?"  
  
"Surlain, Burtain? Something like that. I honestly don't remember exactly what it was."  
  
"That seems awfully familiar for some reason." Hermione couldn't place it so she filed it under her mental list of things to do. She and Draco talked on for another few minutes until they decided it was dinner time.  
  
"Draco, would you like to join us tonight?"  
  
"I think I'd like that, Hermione. Thank you." the two of them left the library and returned to the Gryffindor common room.  
  
  
  
Okay, sorry for the long delay. I'll tell all when I post again (hopefully later tonite.) I'll just say that right now, things haven't been too wonderful in energy's world….. I just had to post something though. Get ready for Dumbledore's announcement and a few other fun things as the final acts begin to come together….  
  
energy 


	31. Up to the End

At dinner that evening, Draco did indeed join the Gryffindors at their table, much to the chagrin of the Slytherins from across the way. They were sending icy glares their way and pretty much daring any Gryffindor to say a word. Needless to say, the Gryffindors weren't exactly backing down or anything. You could smell the hate between the tables.  
  
The tension was building as the meals were about to be served. Dumbledore chose that moment to come racing into the Great Hall, flanked by Professors McGonagall and Snape. The three of them looked very harried and made their way to the front of the room as quickly as possible. Instead on sitting, they stood in front of the faculty table and waited for attention to be drawn to them, and it wasn't long.  
  
"I hate to interrupt the festivities students," he said, glancing between the crimson and gold and the green and silver, "But I am afraid that I come with terrible news." The quiet chatter that accompanied them to the front of the room died at once. Dumbledore looked to Minerva and Severus before continuing. They both gave him small nods.  
  
"We have just been informed that Voldemort has struck again, all across England. The details are just beginning to flow in, but it seems that he is targeting Muggles and Wizards alike, anyone in he and his followers' path."  
  
Draco's heart stopped beating in his chest for a five-count. "Busy?" he asked himself. "Oh my God!" his mind screamed at the information. "That is what he was doing…"  
  
Dumbledore continued, "We fear that Voldemort is beginning his big push, and we have to push back [[A/N--if anyone can tell me where that line came from (without Voldemort in it, of course, you get 1000 points. A hint- -a great 80's movie. Another hint--a cartoon. Anyway….]] Severus and myself and a few other professors are leaving to do what we can to stop them. Until my return, Professor McGonagall shall be in charge. I shall expect you to respect her as you would me, and hopefully we shall return quickly."  
  
"We shall do what we can to re-staff the classes the professors are vacating as quickly as possible," McGonagall spoke after Dumbledore finished. "Also, feel safe in Hogwarts. We are re-doubling our already nearly impregnable defenses before they leave, so there will be no chance of them getting in here, if they were so brazen as to try." she looked at a few of the senior years who about to jump out of their seats and volunteer to go with the professors. "As much as I respect your abilities, you all will remain here until this is over."  
  
"There will be no trips to Hogsmeade in the immediate future," Snape said and a few groans echoed back at him. "I know you aren't thrilled about that, but it is for your own good. Now, if you will excuse us, we have a lot to do and very little time in which to do it."  
  
Chatter erupted again as the three made their way back out the front door of the Great Hall. Draco was looking about as pale as he possibly could and looked to be about to fall out of his chair. Thankfully, Harry was on one side of him and he reached an arm out to steady his former enemy.  
  
"Draco, are you alright? You look terrible."  
  
"Harry, I had the information in front of me the whole time. I could have stopped this."  
  
"What are you talking about, Draco?" Hermione asked from his other side.  
  
"The letter I received earlier…" Draco trailed off. "I think I'm going to be sick." he jumped out of the seat and raced for the bathrooms. Harry and Hermione exchanged worried glances and Harry decided that it was best if he check on Draco.  
  
"Draco?" Harry called as he stepped into the restroom. He heard a retching sound from one end and decided to wait a moment to give the yakking Slytherin a little dignity. A minute later, Draco came from the stall wiping his mouth and looking very pale. "Are you okay?"  
  
"I guess."  
  
"Now, what were you talking about out there, about knowing something all the while?"  
  
"Harry, I got a letter a earlier from my father and he said that he couldn't come here and get a personal explanation of what I've been up to because he was very busy at the moment. I never thought about what that might mean, but now I know that he was busy planning Voldemort's next move. Dammit Harry, I had the information sitting in the palm of my hand and I did nothing with it."  
  
"Draco, there is no way that you could have known what your father was going to do. It isn't your fault."  
  
"In a way it is, Harry. I don't know if I can get you to understand why it is, but I know it's true."  
  
"Draco, it isn't, but I won't argue with you on it, just don't beat yourself up over it."  
  
"I won't Harry, I'm not sure exactly what I'm going to do yet, but beating 'myself' up is not in the equation."  
  
"Don't get in over your head, Draco. I'll help you if you need it."  
  
"Thanks Harry, I appreciate that. If I need assistance, I'll let you know first."  
  
The two boys walked back out of the restrooms and returned to dinner. Neither ate much, but that isn't really that surprising considering the news they'd just heard.  
  
Sunday passed and Monday rolled around again, bringing a little difference in the schedules. Potions had been cancelled until after the break and very few students missed it. Transfiguration classes had been combined into one lesson per year, so all houses were in the same room, crowding even the largest classroom in Hogwarts. There were a few other changes but none of them directly affect the tale I tell, so I shan't go into them.  
  
Ron sadness continued to grow, and he oft found himself in odd places. His trips to Surtain were coming on a nightly basis now, but he left feeling almost as bad as when he went in.  
  
Ron stepped outside the tower dressed in his warmest robe since the air had picked up a knife edge as December was drawing near. "Surtain?" he called. The familiar figure coalesced in the center of the room.  
  
"Yes Ron. I am here." He waved a hand towards the floor and Ron unconsciously walked to the spot.  
  
"It happened again today, Surtain. I was in some supply closet. I sort of woke up and then before I knew it, I was back in my common room again."  
  
"It appears that you might have a form of amnesia or perhaps you are sleepwalking, Ron." Surtain clouded his face to hide the huge smile he was wearing.  
  
"It is starting to scare me, Surtain. I don't know what I'm doing half the time anymore."  
  
"Oh, Ron, but I do…" Surtain thought. "Perhaps you might want to speak with a medical professional." he told Ron, knowing that was the last thing that Ron would do.  
  
"No, they might lock me up or something, saying that I'm loony. I'm not, at least I don't think I am."  
  
"No Ron, I don't think you're loony. Maybe a bit confused, but not loony. I expect everything will work out soon."  
  
"I hope you are right, Surtain, this just has to stop."  
  
"Oh it will. I promise." Surtain spoke that aloud, not really focusing on Ron, but sort of looking into the sky. Ron was a little spooked by that.  
  
"I uh, I think I'll go on back to the tower now. I'll see you later, I'm sure."  
  
"Goodnight, Ron. Have pleasant dreams." Ron couldn't figure out exactly what was wrong, but he just had one of those feelings. Once he'd closed the door to the Astronomy Tower behind him, he began a quick jog back to the common room, sparing a glance behind him once or twice.  
  
Back in the tower, Surtain was positively glowing. He had nearly reached a solid form now, but was a radiant blue-grey at the moment. "Ron, things are so close now. You've brought me almost everything I need. So soon. I can't have you messing it up now though, so I'll have to be a little rougher on you." Surtain squeezed his left hand together and back in the Gryffindor common room, Ron had a pain behind his eyes similar to an ice cream headache.  
  
"So close. I will have form again. It's been so long." he laughed quietly into the wind.  
  
Days passed. News from the battlegrounds reached Hogwarts. It was difficult going for the good guys. It seemed that as soon as they found the Death Eaters, they'd simply disappear. Dumbledore and company were stymied as how fight an enemy you couldn't find. This is not to say that there weren't any successes, because there were. They'd stopped a half dozen attacks on Muggle families and taken or killed three dozen Death Eaters so far.  
  
In the passing days, Draco was trying to decide his course of action. So far, he'd gotten no further than deciding that he had to do something. The only thing was what to do and when to do it. Term was over in a few days, so it would likely be over break.  
  
Hermione and Harry continued their worries over Ron. He seemed even less himself than he'd been all term. Even Colin, who had only recently really started talking to Ron again without Harry around mentioned it to him. Ron told him nothing aside from that he was just sad. Hermione was determined to figure it all out before the year was over, she just couldn't take anymore of this angst-y garbage.  
  
Seamus and Neville continued to remain cute as hell together, like anything else was possible. They had begun hanging around Draco quite a bit, and since then the other Slytherins had almost left him alone. Seamus was sure that it was because they were terrified of El Shamrocko and never got tired of telling everyone else. They, on the other hand, did get tired of it.  
  
All the students were studying hard for their midterms, happy that there was no Potions class. The end of term finally rolled around and after many days of tests, the first half of the year was over. McGonagall wished all the leaving students, nearly all of the total, a safe trip home and assured them that they would be protected in their absence from Hogwarts. She then bid those staying (which just so happens to include all the main characters- hah!) welcome to Holiday Hogwarts. It was two weeks till Christmas and they'd have the entire school to the forty or so of them.  
  
  
  
I can't believe it took me almost a month to update this story. I'm such an irresponsible author. Bad energy. Bad. Well, in my defense, I've been looking into colleges over the last few weeks and that takes so much time it about makes me sick. Yuck. Back to school. Yuck. I've also been working on my next two stories a lot in my free time - Halo2 and the HP/SW crossover as well a Digimon fic. With my school search, my typing time is limited. I can freehand a lot at my boring job and then between jobs, but I seriously need a laptop computer to type on.  
  
Now, I've reached the term break and everything is going to come to a head in the final three or four chapters. I hope to put this thing to bed by the end of may, and I will update more frequently, I promise. Get ready for deaths, betrayal, fire, love, hate, darkness, anguish, the whole nine yards… thanks for reading.  
  
energy 


	32. Draco's Quest

The first day of their vacation opened with a huge snowstorm. Rather unsurprising actually. It seemed to snow about every day between school's end and Christmas every year. Harry rolled out of bed, taking care not to awaken Colin, and swore quietly as he wrapped himself in not only his robe, but Colin's as well.  
  
"You would think," Harry muttered to himself, " that with all the magic around here, they would find some way to not make it get so bloody cold at night." he pulled tighter and stuck his frozen feet in the slippers. He returned and tried to sneak back into bed.  
  
"Harry, your feet are like ice! Don't touch me!" Colin had awoken and was trying to bat his feet away. Harry was grinning his evil little grin and reached a rather cold hand to the underside of Colin's chin.  
  
"I'm warning you, Harry, touch me again while you're an icicle and you'll draw back a stump."  
  
"But Colin, you're so warm and cuddly, I was hoping that you could help me thaw out," Harry said in his absolute saddest voice.  
  
"Oh, Harry, fine. I'll help you out. Just next time remember not to drink so much before you go to bed then you won't have to get up before it gets tolerably warm."  
  
"Good point, now come here," Harry said, pulling Colin closer. They had just snuggled up for a short winter's nap when they were awoken to an unmistakable Irish yell.  
  
"It snowed!! Gerrup' Neville! It's time for a snowball fight!"  
  
"Seamus, it is too early for a snowball fight. Besides, we could probably find some icicles in here and have a battle with them instead."  
  
"No, a snowball fight it is. I'll get everybody else up while you get dressed."  
  
"I'm not that slow, you know, Seamus."  
  
"Sure. And the Pope's not catholic. Get ready." Neville just shook his head and pulled the sheets back up. Seamus on the other hand, was getting crazier by the second. He was rubbing his hands together, planning his next moves. He eeny-meeny-miney-moed Harry and Ron's bed and settled on Harry's first. He pulled the curtain back and jumped in.  
  
"Wake up guys, it's time for a snowball fight." he landed squarely on Colin who groaned and rolled to the right, leaving Seamus directly in the middle. "Wow. I could definitely get used to this," he said, looking from Colin's face to Harry's.  
  
"Sorry Seamus, but I won't share this toy with you. He's mine."  
  
Seamus turned back to Colin and looked at him for a second, then pinched his cheek lightly. "I see why Harry. He is as cute as a button." Colin playfully slapped his hand away. "He's feisty too. I like that."  
  
"What's this you said about a snowball fight, Seamus" Harry asked, a bit intrigued.  
  
"It's tradition. First day of break and if it snows, you have a snowball fight."  
  
"And how long has this been a tradition, Seamus?" Harry asked him, with an eyebrow raised.  
  
"Well, if you want to get technical, I guess since I woke up about five minutes ago." Seamus looked over to his bed for a second and shouted, "I don't hear any movement over there, Mr. Longbottom."  
  
"I'm getting up, just very slowly. The old battery needs a jumpstart on cold mornings." Neville replied.  
  
"Here comes your jumpstart, Nev," Seamus said as he extricated himself from Harry's bed and launched himself back to his own in one swift movement. Colin and Harry watched as the sheets tussled and flew around.  
  
"Snowball fight, Colin?"  
  
"Sure Harry. You want to wake up Ron? Seamus and Neville might be busy for a little while."  
  
"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing." Harry hopped out of his bed and went over to Ron's. "Hey Ron, you awake yet?" he asked.  
  
"I don't see how I can't be, with Seamus yelling and flopping around and all. Are we having a pillow fight?"  
  
"A snowball fight, actually. Interested?"  
  
"Oh yeah. I can handle that." 'While I still feel good,' he thought the second part to himself. "I'll get up I a minute."  
  
"I hope so. If you don't, Seamus might do one of his famous somersaults onto your sacred areas, and that surely isn't how I'd like to get up. I'll go get Draco. You just get up, quickly," Harry said as he looked at Seamus poke his head out of the blankets and smile an evil grin.  
  
"Okay. I'll get up. You go fetch Draco." Harry got up and again wrapped himself in robes.  
  
"I'll be back with Draco in a little while, everybody."  
  
"Hurry back, Harry," Neville said, from under the blankets.  
  
"Oh, and while I'm gone, someone get Hermione. If she's left out, she'll be mad all day."  
  
"I'll get her, Harry, while I get my brother. Don't worry about it," Colin said as he started to climb out of the pile of blankets. Harry left the dorm room and proceeded down the hall.  
  
It wasn't until he was almost there that he realized that he might have a problem. If the Slytherin password had been changed, Harry wouldn't be collecting Draco after all. "Well, I guess we just have to find out," he told the hallways. He reached the Slytherin door at a slow jog, trying to warm himself a bit in the chilly dungeons.  
  
"Here we go, 'Gryffindors suck'," he told the picture.  
  
"Aye, you know the password, but why are you dressed in the colors of the enemy?" the picture challenged.  
  
"Undercover work," he answered and the door swung over. As he stepped in, memories of the only other time he'd been here flooded back in. He saw Colin and Draco together, remembered the horrible feeling of rejection and how he'd started to leave before Colin came to him. He brushed those thoughts away and continued on.  
  
"Let's see, the bedrooms are?" Harry asked himself as he finally found the way. First year, second year, he walked down steps until he came to fifth year dorms. He pushed the door open and walked in. Harry looked for the most immaculately kept area and knew that it would be Draco's. Aha. He heard noise coming from the bed and was even more positive he was right.  
  
"No! No father! You can't!" Draco yelled in his sleep. Harry hurried to his side and was just about to shake him awake when Draco sat up with one loud and bone-chilling scream. "NOOOOOOOOO!!!!"  
  
Harry grabbed him by the shoulders and was trying to get him to come around. Draco's eyes snapped into focus and looked directly at Harry like a deer into headlights.  
  
"Harry!" Draco squeaked out and fell into him, his body losing its stiffness.  
  
"Draco, it's alright, whatever it was, it was a dream. You're awake now. It can't hurt you." Draco regained his composure and sat back up.  
  
"Oh Harry, you don't know how wrong you are. It was my father in my dream, and he very well can hurt me. I have a feeling that he is going to do so in the very near future."  
  
"Nonsense, Draco, he'd have to get through Dumbledore first-"  
  
"He isn't here, Harry, remember?"  
  
"Well, McGonagall then."  
  
"I mean her no disrespect, but I doubt my father would have a problem with her. He is so evil, Harry, you can't begin to understand."  
  
"I don't know what to tell you about that Draco, but remember I told you that I'd help you do whatever you decided to do."  
  
"I remember Harry, and I thank you again. Now, if you don't mind me asking, why are you here in my room at this time of morning? Don't you Gryffindors ever sleep?"  
  
"I came to offer you a chance to be in our traditional snowball fight we're having in a little while."  
  
"Traditional?"  
  
"Seamus came up with it this morning."  
  
"Ah. I guess I have nothing better to do, since I don't particularly want to go back to sleep anytime soon, and pelting Seamus with snow seems like a good way to wake up."  
  
"Come on then, get up and we'll go." Harry got off the bed and stood by the wardrobe, crossing his arms.  
  
"You know, Harry, it's a good thing that I don't sleep in the nude or anything. With you storming in like that, who knows what you'd have seen," Draco said as he pulled a pair of jeans over his silver boxers. Harry laughed it off, thinking back to how he'd almost lost Colin to this boy who was now changing clothes in front of him. Damn. Not too shabby. Anyway. Draco finished dressing and they made their way back, Harry thinking how lucky he was after all. They returned to the Gryffindor common room to see Hermione sitting in a chair by the fire, reading a book.  
  
"You do know, Hermione, that we are on vacation and you can put the books away for about three weeks, right?" Harry joked.  
  
"Hey guys, good morning to you to, Harry. Since you asked, I'm trying to find something that is at a corner of my mind, but won't come out. It's been driving me crackers lately."  
  
"You're going to join us right, Hermione?" Draco asked.  
  
"Oh yeah, as soon as the rest of the monkeys get done with their pillow fight slash wrestling match upstairs." Harry and Draco grinned and started up that way, not sure if they'd break it up or join in. They walked through the door and saw a huge pile of bodies swinging pillows and sheets and robes every which way imaginable.  
  
"Ready to go, everybody," Harry asked the pile. Various heads poked out from everywhere and answered him affirmatively.  
  
"You know, Draco, there is an empty spot over there, since Dean left and all. You could stay here. I doubt that Dumbledore or McGonagall would have a problem with that."  
  
"I just might. Why did Dean leave anyway?"  
  
A voice boomed from the ceiling, scaring everyone into silence. "Dean left because I don't like him. He is a very boring person, and besides, Seamus looks better with Neville anyway."  
  
"He's right, you know," Seamus said. "I do look better with him."  
  
"Yes you do," energy's voice said, and then the voice disappeared as quickly as he appeared, wondering why the author decided to make another cameo. [[just for you, enoimreH, just for you]]  
  
Everyone started getting ready, boots were strapped on, robes and cloaks put on, gloves located, and then everyone was out the door.  
  
After nearly an hour, the group was almost completely worn out, not to mention frozen. Seamus made a handful of snowballs and then in his best Samuel L. Jackson impersonation said, " This party is over," and proceeded to hit every member of the opposing team [[gratuitous SW Episode 2 reference, sorry]]. The battle was over and it was decided that breakfast was in order.  
  
After breakfast was finished everyone retired to the Gryffindor common room to shower and change, save Draco, who joined them a bit later. The group took up places in the common room, everyone spread out. Draco was sitting by the fire, looking at everyone. Harry and Colin walked over, Harry meaning to find out why he'd been so silent at breakfast.  
  
"Draco, what's up? You've not said a word hardly since we were outside."  
  
"I've been thinking about what I have to do, Harry."  
  
"What have you decided then?" Colin asked.  
  
"What I've decided might be very dangerous Harry, so if you want to back out, I'll understand."  
  
"I made a promise, Draco, and I intend to keep it. So go on."  
  
"Alright. Here we go. I want to sneak into the manor and find something to prove that my father is a Death Eater. I know that he is, and I just have to do it before he gets to me first."  
  
"What do you mean gets to you first?" Colin asked the Slytherin.  
  
"Colin, if I don't do this, I know that my father will kill me. He is that evil. He knows already about what I've done these last few weeks and he's very unhappy about that."  
  
"Why don't you just have the Ministry look into it then?"  
  
"They've been there before Colin, and found nothing. And besides, I don't want to stretch their resources any further than they already are."  
  
"Then how are you two going to find anything?"  
  
"They didn't find anything because they didn't know where to look."  
  
"And I'm assuming you do, right Draco?" Harry said.  
  
"Not exactly, but I have a good idea. Places I've never been allowed to go into before. Places like that."  
  
"I guess that you're parents are out now, right?"  
  
"Correct. They are in Bavaria at the moment, or at least my mother is. Visiting relatives for the holidays. My father is either with her, or out with the Death Eaters."  
  
"When are we leaving, Draco?"  
  
"Now? As soon as possible, I hope. The sooner we get this trip over with, the better. However this turns out, I doubt I'm going home again."  
  
"Hermione, will you come over here for a minute please?" Harry called to her. She walked over and took the seat offered her by Draco.  
  
"So what is going on?" Harry and Draco explained everything to her.  
  
"When are you two leaving?"  
  
"As soon as we gather our supplies, I suppose," Harry told her.  
  
"Do be careful boys,"  
  
"We'll be fine Hermione, just stick to our plan and everything will be fine on this end as well."  
  
"Of course I will, Harry. Don't worry about this half, you two just get back as soon as you can. I guess you're flying, right?"  
  
"We have to," Draco said, "My father has locked our fireplace out of the network somehow and there isn't really any other viable alternative."  
  
"We should be getting ready now, Draco, if we plan to leave anytime soon."  
  
"You're right."  
  
"Harry, I want to come with you, please?" Colin was nearly crying.  
  
"Colin, no, I need you to stay here. If you came with us I'd be too busy worrying about you to help Draco. And if something were to happen to you, I don't know what I'd do with myself. Besides, someone's got to keep an eye on Hermione, right? Keep her out of trouble?"  
  
"Okay, Harry, I'll stay. Just be careful. I don't know what I'll do if anything happens to you. I'll miss you." Colin broke into tears and buried his face in Harry's robes.  
  
"Here, take this," he said, untying the stone necklace from around his neck.  
  
"No Harry, I can't take that, it's yours."  
  
"Exactly. I'll be back to get it in a few days at the most." Harry felt the stone's heat leave him as he took it off. He tied it around Colin's neck and tucked the stone beneath his shirt. The stone lit up like it hadn't in a while, causing all four of them to shield their eyes for a second until it settled down.  
  
"I love you, Harry. So much."  
  
"I know. And I love you too." Harry leaned down and kissed Colin on the forehead and gave him a lop-sided smile. "Alright, Draco, go get your stuff together, think warm things, and I'll go see Dobbie and get a few munchies for the trip. We'll meet back here in a little while." Draco nodded and headed out. Harry turned to Colin. "Will you do me a favor and pack me a few things?"  
  
"Of course Harry. A few very warm things on the way. Go get your food," he said, wiping a rogue tear from his eye.  
  
About fifteen minutes passes and the two returned at nearly the same time. Draco had somehow forgotten his broom when he was halfway there, and so had to retreat and get it. "Red Wings," Draco uttered and the door to the Gryffindor common room opened. Harry walked in about twenty seconds later. [[GO REDWINGS!! STOMP THE AVS!!]]  
  
"Here you go Harry," Colin said as he handed Harry a pack of clothes and a few other things. Harry took the pack and stuffed another bag of food inside it.  
  
"Thanks Colin." he hugged him again.  
  
"Harry, I just thought of something, how are we going to get off the grounds? I'm sure we won't just be able to walk out the front door or anything." Draco said.  
  
"I've got that covered," Harry said, leaving Draco to guess. Most of the remaining students were in the common room and were a little curious as to what was going on.  
  
"Hey, Harry, what's the deal?" Seamus called out from the other side of the room.  
  
"Hermione will explain everything a little later on, don't worry. Let's go Draco, we need to get as far as we can by nightfall." The two of them put their warm coats and cloaks on and gave Hermione a quick hug and a few reassurances and then Draco started for the door.  
  
"Colin," Harry said, "We'll be back before you know it. Don't cry, please. It won't make this any easier."  
  
"I'll be okay Harry, I really will. I've got to keep an eye on Hermione, remember." he grinned a small grin and Harry knew right then that he could never be without Colin ever again. Harry picked his broom up and headed to meet Draco. As the door closed behind him, Harry felt a sudden sense of foreboding.  
  
"I felt it too, Harry. We need to go, now," Draco told him, reading his mind. "You said you knew a way out of here?"  
  
"Yeah, a passage that Ron's brother's showed me a few years ago." They made their way to the passage and descended the steps into the darkness.  
  
"Lumos" Harry called and light pierced the darkness.  
  
"I've walked past that statue how many times now?" Draco asked.  
  
"Tell me about it. There are so many passages that I doubt even Fred and George found them all." Eventually they came out in Hogsmeade and made their way to the outskirts of town, trying to stay out of sight and doing a good job of it. Once they'd reached the fields, they got on their brooms and flew off, putting Hogwarts behind them and flying into danger.  
  
Meanwhile, back in the Gryffindor common room, the crowd had gathered around Hermione wanting to know exactly what was going on.  
  
"Okay, I figure that they're off by now, so here goes," she said, looking at Seamus who'd been bugging the fire out of her since the two had left. "Harry and Draco are going to Malfoy Manor to try to find evidence about Draco's father being a Death Eater."  
  
"We all know he's a Death Eater, Hermione," Neville told her.  
  
"Yes, but they need proof to do anything about it. Rumors and chat are no good.  
  
"So they are flying off to Malfoy manor and into who knows what?" Seamus asked, dumbfounded.  
  
"Technically, yes."  
  
"Unbelievable. Completely unbelievable," was all Seamus could say.  
  
"I have a very bad feeling about this, everyone," Ron said, startling them all since he'd not spoken since breakfast. "Something wicked this way comes." [[where is that from??? I can't remember, but it did fit here so very well…]] Hermione settled in for the questions that were to follow and she wasn't disappointed.  
  
Meanwhile, in the Astronomy Tower, another being felt the departure of the two.  
  
"I do hope that you make it back in time for the festivities, Harry Potter. I'd hate for you to miss 'this'." Surtain's haunting laugh echoed the tower and he resumed his slumber until nightfall.  
  
  
  
Wow. That was long. It would have been even longer, but MSWord decided to lock up again and delete about three pages, forcing me to retype them. Malfoy manor coming up, along with quite a few other things. Are you ready for the end?? Hope so.  
  
energy  
  
"This party is over" -- Mace Windu, Jedi Master 


	33. Attitude

Harry and Draco flew on until mid-afternoon when hunger finally made them set down for an early dinner or late lunch, depending on your perspective. They tore through two sandwiches each in no time, surprising themselves at their appetites.  
  
"So Draco, how much further do you think we have?"  
  
"I figure that at our present rate, we'll get there sometime early tomorrow afternoon, assuming we sleep about six hours or so."  
  
"That's not as bad as I figured. It's too bad we can't apparate yet, huh Draco?"  
  
"No kidding. We'd have already been there and back by now. Oh well. If you want to wait until next year…."  
  
"No way. We've come this far and I am going to help you finish this now. Not later. Pass me that bottle of juice, please." Draco handed him the bottle and wrapped himself a bit tighter. "You do know, Draco, that if your family didn't live so far out in the sticks, we'd have been there already?"  
  
"Har har. You aren't calling my family hicks are you?"  
  
"Not really." this got a Harry handful of snow tossed at him. "I'm kidding."  
  
"Harry, do you think we should stay in an inn, or out in the fields?"  
  
"I'd like to say an inn, but if it is as dangerous for us as you seem to think, and I feel, we might be best to take shelter in a barn or something. Anything completely outside is out of the question. We'd die of exposure for sure. So I vote for a stable or something."  
  
"I agree. We'll set down at sunset and try to find a warm inviting 'barn'." Draco shook his when he said barn. "The high and mighty Draco Malfoy, reduced to sleeping with the swine. The horror…" Draco trailed off, obviously enjoying his drama-queen act.  
  
"Well Draco, you could always sleep with some of your father's friends. I'm sure they'd be glad to take us in."  
  
"Nope, horses and pigs it is. They win hands down. Or is it hooves?"  
  
"I don't know, but we should be going. We've only got a few hours of daylight left before it starts to get very, very cold." Harry packed up the rest of their food and they were off again, still heading almost due north. A snow squall forced them down about an hour earlier than they'd planned, but it was honestly getting too cold to fly any further. Even with the heating charms they used the wind was still cutting deep through their robes and all, stealing their body heat and sapping their strength.  
  
"This will put us behind schedule, Harry."  
  
"I know, but it just isn't safe to be up there right now. Come on, let's find a nice and warm barn to sleep in."  
  
"You say barn like it is the Taj Mahal, Harry. It will be a stinky, cow-y, barn."  
  
"But it will be out of the wind and snow. Maybe even warm."  
  
"You do have a point. What about over there?" Draco pointed to an outlying structure.  
  
"That might do. Come on, I'm freezing."  
  
"Lead the way, Harry." The barn was inviting, not too smelly, and with a hay loft above the animals.  
  
"We'll stay up there," Harry said, pointing to the loft. They climbed the ladder and began settling into the hay. The two boys ate a quick meal and retired. In lieu of a fire, which might attract more attention than they wanted, they used the warmth charms and snuggled close to share body heat.  
  
"Now don't get any ideas, Potter. You saw almost everything earlier, so just keep your hands to yourself."  
  
"I'm taken, Draco, so don't get your hopes up." Harry and Draco laughed themselves to sleep, closer than they'd ever thought they'd be at the beginning of the year.  
  
While they were flying north, Hermione explained what they would all do while the boys were gone. They'd all go down to the Great Hall together and eat quickly, trying to stay away from the remaining students. If anyone were to question them about the whereabouts of the two, they were in the common room, sleeping off the flu.  
  
Seamus had spent most of the day pacing the room complaining that he didn't get to go with the two. He was over the fact that it was stupid, now he just wanted to be there. Neville had spent most of the day keeping Seamus from tearing the room apart with his hyperactivity. Neville was seriously tired.  
  
Hermione and Dennis were doing their best to keep Colin's mind off the whole deal. They'd played a score of games of Exploding Snap, talked about everything, and as the day wound down they were all losing the effectiveness to distract him.  
  
"I've tried not to worry about him, Hermione, honestly I have. It's just that he and Draco are flying through some of the fighting, and once they're past that, they'll be at Malfoy manor, home of one of the highest ranking Death Eaters there is."  
  
"Colin, I know I've said this many times today, but I'll say it again. Harry is one of the smartest, most resourceful, and lucky people I've ever met. If anything were to go wrong, he is the one person I'd want here by my side."  
  
"That is exactly why I want him here now. Something is going to go wrong. Can't you feel it? Something is out of place here."  
  
"He is right," Ron said. "I've felt it all day. I can't put my finger on it, but it's like a cloud settling over the castle. I feel like I'm so close, but when I try to see what it is, it hides from me."  
  
"I wish I could say I felt it, but really don't. I guess I'm not as perceptive as you guys," Hermione said. "but just have a little faith. He'll be fine."  
  
"I hope so."  
  
"Colin, will you snap out of it?" Dennis asked him. "Worrying about him is about as effective as telling Snape to bathe. It just is pointless." This brought a smile to all of their faces, for the first time all day. "See, isn't that better? I thought so."  
  
"Thanks Dennis. I guess it is pointless to sit here and worry."  
  
"Correctamundo. Now, have you written to Mum and Dad yet?"  
  
"Not yet. I'm still trying to figure out how to tell them that I have a boyfriend."  
  
"Oh jeez, you mean you've not told them yet? Oh man," Dennis ran a hand through his hair and looked at the ceiling.  
  
"You are going to tell them, aren't you Colin?" Hermione asked.  
  
"He has to, if he wants Harry to come and stay for a while with him," Dennis said.  
  
"Not really, Harry stays at Ron's during the summer and--"  
  
"Hermione, I think that staying at our house would be a little different than staying at Ron's, since Harry is dating my brother and all."  
  
"I do see your point. That is a little different."  
  
"I just don't know how to do it," Colin said, in a voice like a whisper.  
  
"I know, how about this," Hermione said, "Dear Mum and Dad, there is a very strange bug going around school this year. Everyone boy who catches it becomes gay. I caught it. Love Colin. PS, I'm dating Harry Potter." they all cracked up laughing.  
  
"Somehow I don't think that would work, Hermione," Dennis said between laughs. "It sure would be funny though."  
  
"Seriously Colin, just say it. From what I know of them, they will take it just fine."  
  
"Yeah, she's right, Colin. Heck, Mum probably already knows."  
  
"What!? What do you mean she probably already knows?"  
  
"Think about it. You've been obsessed with him for years now, you've never had a girlfriend, you aren't the most masculine boy in the world, need I go on?"  
  
"So you think she already knows. So do I just have a big fat rainbow sign above me that I can't see?"  
  
"Not a big sign, just a small sign, about the size of a mailbox." Colin grabbed a pillow and whacked Dennis like Barry Bonds.  
  
"Do I hit like a girl, Dennis? No offense, Hermione," he asked while he was laughing.  
  
"No, you don't." Dennis sounded a bit dazed.  
  
"I guess I'll write that letter now." Colin got up and walked up to his room.  
  
"Your folks will take it alright, won't they?" Hermione asked Dennis.  
  
"Oh yeah. Mum is the most open minded person in the world. And dad likely won't care even if Colin told him he was in love with a giant rabid whale." Dennis was starting to laugh as he was finishing that, just about when Colin made it to the top of the steps and around the corner.  
  
"That's good. Now we just have to wait out a few more days like this and Harry will be back and all this will be over." Dennis was now in full blown riot laugh. Hermione was looking very perplexed. "Would you like to share the joke, Dennis?"  
  
He laughed for a good two minutes before he could get himself under control. "Okay, I'll share with you, but you have to promise not to tell until later on. Promise?"  
  
"Sure, sure, now out with it."  
  
"Mum wrote me about two months ago, she was worried about him and she asked me a few questions. Well, one of them, you can probably guess right now, and I told her. I asked her not to be disappointed because he was. She wrote back telling me that she didn't care at all. She was just happy he found someone special."  
  
"Dennis Creevey! You mean she's known all this time and you've yet to tell him! I can't believe that."  
  
"Mum said to not bring up that she knows, that she'd like to let him tell her on his own. But I must admit, it's been fun tormenting him these last two months."  
  
"I ought to whack you one for Colin, you know. That is just, just, I don't know what it is. Wrong?"  
  
"No, funny." They started laughing again.  
  
"You are rotten." Hermione squealed out between fits of laughing.  
  
Night was closing in on the tower fast, and most of the residents were getting tired. Bedtime soon rolled around. Colin finished his letter and sent it out with Thierry, and then he turned in himself, in his own bed for the first time in what seemed like forever.  
  
Everyone was fast asleep by the time Ron rolled out of bed. His eyes were still closed, so it appeared he was sleepwalking. He walked out the door and began his stroll through the hallways. He made his way into an ancient room he'd likely never be able to find if he were awake. "Over there, on the wall," a voice spoke in his head. Ron walked to the wall filled with knives and swords and other tools of war. "on the left," Ron's hand reached out and was moving for a jagged looking knife. "No, lower." Ron's hand settled on a pearl handled knife. "Yes. That's the one." Ron took the knife and stuck it in is robes, accidentally sticking himself in the side with the tip. He felt no pain now, but later he would and see a long but shallow cut and a bit of blood.  
  
"Now bring it to me." Ron made his way out of the labyrinth of hallways he'd been down and made his way to the Astronomy Tower. He stepped outside and started shivering immediately. "You've done great, Ron. Set it over there and you may go rest. You've got a busy few days coming up, you know, and you'll need your strength." Surtain was laughing, a horrible sound, and the sleeping Ron winced. He obediently set the knife in the corner and it disappeared. He hurried out of the Tower, hurried to get back to the common room.  
  
No one had pleasant dreams that night, not a single soul. Morning couldn't come quickly enough.  
  
In the hayloft, in the north of England, Draco and Harry awoke to the sound of a rooster. "I don't know what is worse, Goyle snoring, or that rooster," Draco said as he was wiping eye bogies away.  
  
"You should hear Seamus sometimes. He'd give a jackhammer a run for its money."  
  
"What's a jackhammer?"  
  
"Are you serious?"  
  
"Quite. What's a jackhammer?" Harry explained a jackhammer while they ate a quick breakfast. They took off and continued north. Thankfully, today was a little warmer than yesterday, so the trip wasn't as horrible.  
  
"Harry, we're flying into the disputed area now," Draco called over to him.  
  
"And after that is pretty much Death Eater territory, right?"  
  
"Yep. The Ministry has little influence this far north. We need to be extra careful from here on, Harry. Very careful." Harry nodded and reached to where the stone would have been. Remembering it wasn't there, he smiled and thought of Colin, safe in the Gryffindor Tower, probably still asleep, curled up in the blankets, warm and cozy-- Harry's reverie was interrupted as Draco shoved him violently to one side, nearly de- brooming him, a green bolt sizzling past where he was.  
  
"Harry, I don't know where you were, but you were almost ate it right there."  
  
"I, I was thinking about Colin."  
  
"Well, you need to think about Harry right now, not Colin. And we need to get higher so we aren't quite so visible. Black coats against a white cloud isn't the best camouflage, you know." The two boys climbed a few hundred feet further, into the clouds. "Alright, we're a few hours away now, we need to land close to my home and hide out until dark. That way, we'll not be seen if we can help it."  
  
"Sounds good," Harry called back to him. "Oh, and Draco?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Thanks."  
  
"No problem." They continued flying in relative silence.  
  
In the Gryffindor Tower, Colin awoke with a start and a yell. He was sitting bone straight in bed, trying to calm down. The stone was glowing brightly and putting off a major amount of heat. Hermione, who was just heading down the steps, heard Colin's cry and was in his room in two shakes.  
  
"Colin, what's wrong?"  
  
"Hermione! Harry is in grave danger. Something very bad was just barely avoided. I don't know what it was, but I felt it, clear as day."  
  
"Are you sure that you weren't dreaming, Colin?" he pulled the stone up and showed it to her.  
  
"This thing went nuts and woke me up. I thought I was on fire." the stone was still glowing softly and Hermione could feel the warmth from a few steps away.  
  
"Whatever that thing is, it seems to have some sort of bond with Harry, doesn't it?" Hermione asked him.  
  
"It would seem so, Hermione. I just wish I knew what was going on."  
  
"Me too, Colin, me too," Hermione said as she sat on the edge of Colin's bed.  
  
  
  
In the north of England--  
  
Harry and Draco had set down in a dense patch of trees for lunch, carefully searching the area before breaking out the food. One quieting spell later they started eating.  
  
"You know, Draco, I still find it hard to believe that the Ministry has nearly no presence up here. It just seems wrong."  
  
"They'll tell you they are big up here, but they aren't. There is too much going on in the more populated regions of England, mainly around London, so that is where they focus their attentions. Why else would you think that so many of the supposed Death Eaters, like my father, live way out here?"  
  
"If I were in charge of the Ministry, I'd surely concentrate more of my forces in the outlying regions."  
  
"Well, since the Ministry is staffed and run by idiots, and probably more than one spy, they've got London covered, while leaving the rest alone." Draco shook his head in a disbelieving motion.  
  
"Spies in the Ministry? Are you serious, Draco?"  
  
"Of course. Do you know how much You-Know-Who could offer a lowly Ministry worker? At least triple what they make in a year. All they have to do is do a little bit of misdirection. It would be that simple. Tell me you aren't that naïve, Harry."  
  
"I'd never really thought of it, but I guess you're right."  
  
"Sorry to shatter your illusions, Harry, but the world is not as pretty and cut-and-dried as you might think."  
  
"We better be going Draco. We need to cover these last few hours before dark falls."  
  
"I know. Let's go." They covered the last hundred miles or so before dark fell, and they found a sort of secluded place to bed down until midnight or so.  
  
"Once we get back, I will never, ever, ever, step foot in a barn again," Draco said, still a bit miffed about sleeping with animals.  
  
"You've roomed with Crabbe and Goyle for all this time, you know," Harry reminded him.  
  
"They are different. I'm not sure how, but they are."  
  
"I'll take you word for it. Now, since we have a while to kill, why don't you tell me what we might be up against in there."  
  
"Well, honestly, I'm not all that sure. The typical wards on the doors, which I can bypass with ease, probably a few more set up since I left in the house. Now, in the east wing, where I'm betting our jackpot is, I have no clue. I've hardly set foot one in the wing."  
  
"Wonderful."  
  
"Last chance to back out, Harry."  
  
"Nope. Not a chance."  
  
"I hoped you'd say that. Let's get a few hours rest before go time. What do you say?"  
  
"I agree." Harry rolled over on his side and was asleep in a minute.  
  
"Harry, I bet you sleep through jackhammers, don't you?" Draco asked Harry's sleeping form. He was up for a while longer, trying to remember every little thing that they'd encounter in the house, as well as try to anticipate anything that might be there.  
  
Ron awoke around the time that Harry and Draco stopped for lunch. He awoke to a terrible ache in his side. He stuck a hand in his shirt and pulled back four fingers covered in blood. "What the hell is going on here?" he pulled his shirt up and saw a cut about three inches long on his stomach. "Great. Now I'm cutting myself in my sleep. Wonderful. I'd better clean this up before everyone else sees this." 


	34. In the Manor, In the Tower

Okay, I'm redoing chapter 34, because in my opinion, it sucked. I had such high hopes for the adventures in Malfoy Manor and it pretty much bottomed out quick, more boring than women's basketball [[[energy dodges objects hurled by WNBA fans--come on, it is booooring….honestly…]]] anyway, after enoimreH agreed with me, it was time to change it. I hope this works better.  
  
  
  
  
  
Dark had long since fallen, being as late in the year as it was, and when Draco awoke he saw the moon nearly full in the chilly air.  
  
"We need to get going Harry," he said as he shook his shoulder gently. Harry opened his eyes and wiped them clean. A yawn later and he was sitting up.  
  
"Let's go and get this over with," Harry said as he loosened his tight limbs. The two of them quietly began making their way out of the barn. "We should probably leave our brooms here, I don't think we'll want to lug them around inside." Draco agreed.  
  
"Oh Harry, remember how I couldn't figure out the difference between Crabbe and Goyle and the animals a while ago?" Draco whispered to Harry.  
  
"Yeah, did you come up with an answer?"  
  
"Sure did. The animals have personality." Harry looked at Draco strangely for a moment and then it dawned on him what Draco meant. They shared silent giggles as they snuck out the front door.  
  
The manor was a quarter mile down the road from them, and it was dead quiet outside. It seemed almost surreal. The shadows provided their only real cover as they skulked across the ground. Harry and Draco stole to the gate of the manor and with a wave of their wands jumped the fence.  
  
Harry was momentarily awed by the size of the place. The Dursley's entire house would fit neatly with a bit of room left over in the smaller of the two front porches on the place.  
  
"Around the side, Harry, come on." Draco gently pulled his arm and led him away from the sight. They came around to a side door and Draco motioned for Harry to stop behind him. Draco put his hand on a small metal square on the door and it glowed a cherry red color for a few seconds before going out. Gears were turning inside the walls and the door slowly opened inward. "Come on, let's get inside." he pulled Harry inside and shut the door behind him.  
  
They had entered into what appeared to be a mud-room. Draco searched the wall in the dim light and touched a place on the wall not far from the door jam. After he removed his hand the other door opened into the kitchen.  
  
"Exactly what did you just do, Draco?" Harry asked him.  
  
"I just deactivated the first line of wards. At least I hope I did." Harry felt his stomach lurch a little and they entered the kitchen.  
  
"Jeez, Draco, how big is this place?" Harry asked him as he gazed along the walls, which were decorated with all sorts of carvings and other wall hangings.  
  
"It is fairly large, Harry. And I've only been in about half of it." Draco was walking over to the refrigerator and was pulling out a small snack.  
  
"Um, Draco, is this the best time to be eating? I just got a weird feeling that something is not right."  
  
Draco was in mid bite when he put down his bagel and looked at Harry. "I just felt it too. Let's get this over with." The boys left the kitchen and made their way into the front room by way of many smaller ones. They had just left what seemed to be a gigantic sitting room when Harry heard a faint humming sound. He looked ahead, about to warn Draco when he saw a small blue sparkly thing on a chandelier. Harry acted on instinct and pushed Draco to the floor roughly, landing on top of him. A blue blast of what felt like electricity arced by them and melted a small spot on the floor.  
  
"I don't remember that one, Harry," Draco said sheepishly as he and Harry rolled to the side to avoid another bolt.  
  
"Good. I don't want this to be too easy or anything." Harry raised his wand and a bit of his own magic flew to the chandelier, knocking it to the ground. The noise that accompanied the fall was deafening.  
  
"I never liked that old thing anyway," Draco said as they walked past the pile of broken glass. "Too gaudy. I think they got that in France."  
  
"Thank you Mr. Antique Road Show. Let's move on, huh?" They stepped into the main hall, the front door on their right side.  
  
"Only step on the lighter colored stones, Harry," Draco told him as they walked across a dark marble floor.  
  
"I don't know how you can tell the difference, Draco, so I'll just step where you step." Harry was looking as best he could, but could barely make any distinction between dark and 'light'. he just followed Draco. "What if you stepped on the wrong stones, Draco?"  
  
"You don't want to know, Harry. Let's just say that this house has never been successfully burglarized before."  
  
"Oh great, that makes me feel oh so much better. Thanks. You could have kept that last bit until later, you know."  
  
"Sorry Harry, it just sort of slipped out. Malfoy pride I guess. I can't change everything about me in a few weeks."  
  
The slowly made their way to a large marble staircase going up. It curled to the left and the right at the top. "That is where we need to go, I believe, to the right."  
  
"Then let's go." Harry was right behind Draco as they mounted the steps.  
  
Back in the Gryffindor tower, Colin awoke with a start. Just like before, something felt eerily wrong. A deep seated feeling of unease filled him. Something was going on. Colin reached down and felt the stone, noticing little difference than usual, except for a bit more brightness than the usual dull glow. "I hope Harry's alright," he said to himself. He looked over at Dennis and Aidan, who had refused to stay in their own beds and come down to his dorm to keep him company during vacation. They were sleeping soundly, "And why wouldn't they be?" He asked himself.  
  
Colin got out of bed and stuffed his toes into his fluffy slippers. Unlike Harry's, these actually kept a person's feet warm. He wrapped a blanket around him and decided to take a little walk around the school to see if he could focus on the elusive problem. Colin walked down the steps from the dorms and saw the portrait door closing as he got to the bottom. He was not sure, but he thought that he saw a tuft of red hair just as the door was shutting. "Ron? Ginny?" he thought to himself, naming the only two redheads left in Gryffindor at the moment.  
  
Colin stood rooted in place, unsure as to his next move. He probably should stay right where he was, but a part of him wanted to follow Ron , "Or Ginny, he reminded himself, it might be Ginny." He finally made his decision and headed to the door, hoping he hadn't already lost Ron. He came to the hallway outside the room and looked both ways. No sign of him, but he followed his first instinct and turned to the right, heading off in that direction.  
  
Back in the manor, the two adventurers had reached the top of the steps and were beginning the walk down the right side corridor.  
  
"I've lived here my whole life, Harry, and I can count on one hand the amount of times I've been in this hallway, and not a one of them without my father." Harry didn't like the way that sounded, so he urged Draco on.  
  
"Alright, lead the way, Draco." They set off down the hall, Draco passing up a  
  
few doors, opening others. One particular door wouldn't budge at first, making Harry suspect it of harboring their goal. "Let's force this." Harry and Draco lowered their shoulders into the door and on the fourth whack knocked it open. They fell headlong into an empty room. Not a single piece of furniture graced the carpet, nothing adorned the walls. Completely bare.  
  
"What a waste of space here," Harry said as he stood up. "Did they forget this was here or what?"  
  
"I don't know Harry, I've never been in--" Draco was in mid sentence when his attention was gathered by a small metallic click on the wall behind them. Not wasting time to turn around, he shoved Harry to the ground as a guillotine blade swung through the air where they had been a second ago.  
  
"You know, Draco, I think I'm about over your father's idea of entertaining guests."  
  
"Yeah. I agree with you. We need to find what we're looking for quick. I don't know how much more tackling I can take tonight."  
  
"And I always thought you'd like it rough," Harry said as they dodged the blade on their way back out of the room.  
  
"Wouldn't you like to know for sure?" Draco asked, not expecting a response. He didn't get one, at least one he could hear. [[[what was Harry's answer??? Hmmm???]]] Harry shut the door back and they continued along the hallway.  
  
"From now on, stuck doors are to be avoided," Harry said and Draco agreed wholeheartedly.  
  
"I know that somewhere in here he has a bloody study, I just can't remember which door it-- ah. Here it is." Draco opened another door and saw a room full of books and mounted animal heads as well as a few comfy sofas and chairs.  
  
"What ever we need, it's in here, Draco, do you feel it?"  
  
"Yes I do. I can almost taste it." they began looking in things, under things, behind things, everywhere. Finally, Draco and Harry started looking at the bookshelves. Harry was pulling on books, hoping to find the secret door that was always in the Muggle movies. Draco was behind him, running his hand over the books, when he landed his hand on one that Harry had just tried. He instinctively pulled it out, and the wall began to rotate on itself.  
  
"I just tried that one," Harry said as he saw the book in Draco's hand.  
  
"That's why no one from the Ministry could find anything Harry, it's keyed only to open for a Malfoy. The same reason it didn't work for you."  
  
"Well then, after you," Harry said to him as they walked into the opening. Behind them, a mounted boar head's eyes began to glow a soft red. The bookshelf swung shut behind them.  
  
  
  
Back in Hogwarts, Colin had been walking around the school now for a good twenty minutes. He'd found no sign of Ron at all and was beginning to wonder if he'd not just imagined the whole thing when he'd entered the common room. Something told him he didn't though, so he kept looking. His paths eventually took him in to the dungeon levels and past the Slytherin common room. He had shivers as he passed the common room door, thinking back to the day when he almost…. He shunted that thought away and kept looking.  
  
The Potions classroom was not far from here Colin knew. "I'll check there, and if I find nothing, I'm going back to the common room," he told himself. He was tired again, not to mention cold. He followed the hallways and found himself in front of the Potions door. It was usually closed, but now was wide open, and the door was hanging awkwardly, seemingly on one hinge. Colin bent down to examine the hinges when his mind suddenly was very far away.  
  
"I just tried that one," he heard Harry's voice say, and Draco's voice answered almost immediately  
  
"That's why no one from the Ministry could find anything Harry, it's keyed only to open for a Malfoy. The same reason it didn't work for you." He was now with Harry, in a very odd sort of way. He closed his eyes and saw a very grainy image of a room full of books and weird things hanging everywhere. He watched as the two descended the steps and then the door closed. He saw the boar's eyes alight. Colin exhaled sharply and fell over, losing his focus and the picture in his mind.  
  
He sat down and tried to will it back into his head but was having no luck. He closed his fist around the stone and tried to focus again, this time with more success. The boys were looking around a large desk in a rather evil looking room. Colin's viewpoint spun around and he was looking behind the two. Something with beady red eyes was making its way quietly toward the two. They were too busy rifling through all the papers in the desk to take any notice.  
  
Colin felt rather than heard the beast growl in its throat, and screamed in his mind, screamed as loud as he possibly could, "Harry!! Behind you!!" Colin's connection to Harry was broken a moment later when the two boys whirled around.  
  
  
  
  
  
"Lumos," they both called as the last bit of light from the study was gone. In front of them was a large stairway descending into darkness. At the bottom of the steps, it seemed like they'd stepped into a madman's shrine. Evil of all sort leaked from the walls. The air felt extremely oppressive, and both boys were uneasy, even more so than when they'd arrived.  
  
"My god, Draco, anything here would probably be enough to send him away to Azkaban forever." Harry turned his attention to a picture of what seemed to be very blurry lights on one wall. "It's a good thing that Colin isn't here, he'd try to lecture your father on the fine art of the telephoto lens."  
  
"I know. Let's search the desk and hopefully get the hell out of here. It feels like the walls are watching us."  
  
"I feel it too." Harry and Draco began throwing papers around looking for anything. Harry was opening a drawer when Colin's voice exploded in his head. "Harry, behind you!!" It called, and Harry and Draco both turned in the opposite direction. They both saw the creature as it jumped, a horribly disfigured four legged creature with large teeth and claws and dark fur.  
  
Draco dove to his right, avoiding the creature completely, but Harry was a little slower. He nearly got out of the way, but three of the long claws raked across his upper arm and shoulder, leaving three deep and bloody gashes.  
  
Confused yells and growls filled the room as the creature tried to attack one then the other of them. They were quickly running through their inventory of spells to use on the beast, 'Stupefy' and the others having no effect on the thing other than pissing it off further. The beast also seemed bent on not letting them go, keeping itself between the two boys and the steps.  
  
"What the hell is this thing, Draco? Our spells aren't working a bit!" Harry called as he dodged a blow to his head.  
  
"Harry, I wish I knew. Likely a magically augmented watch-beast I guess."  
  
"This isn't working, you know," Harry said and this time he didn't avoid the creature. It lunged on him and caught him right in the chest, knocking Harry to the ground, his shirt now covered in slashes and blood.  
  
Colin was still sitting on the floor outside of the Potion's class, trying to get back with Harry. He couldn't do it, but as he was getting up, he felt Harry knocked to the ground and slashed again.  
  
Draco watched as the beast took Harry to the floor like he was a rag doll. It was all Harry could do to keep the beast from ripping his throat open, and Draco knew that there wasn't much time left. He instinctively raised his hand and with the utterance of a few words, a huge bolt of green and black lightning shot out to the creature, making it forget completely about Harry as it turned to face its new attacker.  
  
The creature looked hurt, very much so, but wasn't about to give up. The smell of burnt bacon filled the room. It charged at Draco, determined to kill him. Draco raised his hand and again shot the thing with the lightning. This time, it fell. Draco shot it again and again, his face illuminated in the glow.  
  
"Draco!!!" Harry called out, finally bringing Draco back into this world. Draco looked up at Harry and saw him struggling to his feet.  
  
"Harry! You're hurt."  
  
"Later. Let's get this stuff and get out of here before any other pets of your father get the idea to arrive." Harry began to shakily shove papers into his sack, Draco doing the same. "This will be more than enough," he told Draco as they'd stuffed their bags full.  
  
"You're right, now let's get gone." the two quickly made their way up the steps and out into the study and then back out the way they came.  
  
"Goodbye, house," Draco said softly as they made their way back over the fence, Harry leaning heavily on Draco as they went back up the road.  
  
The danger was over, this much Colin knew for certain, but he also knew that Harry was hurt pretty badly. He had to go find Hermione, she would know what to tell him, she'd know what happened. He left the dungeons with the off-kilter door and the Potions room unexplored.  
  
"You need to rest Harry, you're hurt."  
  
"No Draco, we need to get away from here as quick as we can." The two had holed up in the same barn as before while Draco did his best to clean Harry's gashes. "Ouch, Draco, you don't need to make them deeper, you know."  
  
"I'm doing my best, Harry. Unfortunately, I don't really know any of the healing spells.  
  
"So I've noticed. You do know another type, don't you? That was Dark Side magic, wasn't it?"  
  
Draco didn't reply immediately, then he quietly did so. "Yes. That's what that was. I always told myself that I'd never use it, and I've done my best to forget it, but it came back as easy as riding a bike."  
  
"Thank you Draco." Harry said to him.  
  
"I feel tainted now, Harry, horribly so. That was a terrible spell I used on it, and then I couldn't stop doing it. It felt, felt good, I guess."  
  
"We can talk about the morality of all this later, but we need to put miles between us and this place by morning, so let's go."  
  
"One more bandage, Harry, and then you're as done as I can do you." Draco wrapped one more around his lower arm and they were off, a decent amount of blood lighter, but many reams of parchment as well as a great deal of guilt heavier. As they were taking off, Draco looked back one final time and saw a swarm of people buzzing around the house. He kept this secret to himself for the moment and the two flew away.  
  
It took no time for Colin to get Hermione up. He had no sooner walked into the room and lightly touched her shoulder than she'd been awake and coherent.  
  
"Colin, what is it?"  
  
"It's Harry, something's happened to him. He's alive, but he's hurt."  
  
"I'm sure he's fine Colin."  
  
"No Hermione, I don't know how I know, but I do. I was there when it happened." he saw the puzzled look on her face and he told her everything that had gone on with his mind that night. "I think they got out fine after whatever that thing was, but I don't know. I don't feel him now."  
  
The two had migrated into the common room and were sitting around the fire. "Well Colin, I'm here, so why don't we talk to keep you from worrying?"  
  
"That might work. Maybe I can get myself back to sleep sometime soon."  
  
"I'll stay up with you until you drift off, I don't mind."  
  
"Thanks, Hermione. You're so kind, it's easy to see why Dennis adores you." Hermione blushed a little.  
  
"Thank you, Colin. He is cute himself. Anyway, how'd your letter writing go?" she asked him, having a memory of Dennis' story as Colin mentioned his name.  
  
"Well, I did it. It wasn't easy, so I just came out and said it. I haven't received a Howler, so I guess that they took it okay." He looked quite relieved at the fact the mini ordeal was over.  
  
"So I'm guessing that you are going to ask your parents if Harry can stay over the summer?"  
  
"Definitely. I don't know if I could stand not being around him for the entire summer."  
  
"I bet that Harry would be overjoyed to be there, Colin. He loves you so badly, you know."  
  
"I know. I think that is why I can feel him through the stone, I really do. It is like part of him is with me and part of me with him. I can almost feel his hands on my shoulders now, Hermione. Have you ever felt that way about anyone before?"  
  
"Once. It was a wonderful thing. I could feel him no matter where I was, where he was."  
  
"You said once. What happened?"  
  
"I still love him, I'd rather not talk about it, Colin, if you don't mind."  
  
"Sure, I understand."  
  
"No, you probably don't, and it's best you don't," Hermione thought to herself. Instead, she changed the subject. "Have you decided what you'll get him for Christmas yet?"  
  
"Actually I have. I asked Mum to send it to me as soon as possible."  
  
"Can you tell me what it is, Colin, or is it to be a surprise?"  
  
"I'd rather not, it would ruin it for everyone."  
  
"Fair enough."  
  
Colin and Hermione talked about the letter and many other things until the moon set, when Colin fell back asleep. Hermione wasn't remotely tired anymore, so once he passed out, she summoned one of her books and again began searching for that name that Draco had mentioned to her. Surlain? Oh, she knew she was close.  
  
  
  
Alright. I like that one a lot more. I put in two new hooks, both for the sequel that is trying to take over my head now. How can I sequel a masterpiece as this, you ask? Well I guess you'll just have to wait and see, won't you? Just don't hold your breath, as I have seven other stories I am working on. Just wait. Look forward to two more chapters for this one, one short, one longer, or maybe one, it just depends. Look forward to death, betrayal, hope, all the fun things in the final bits.  
  
What did you think, enoimreH, was it better????  
  
energy 


	35. At Base Camp, 23K feet......

Alright, chapter 35 is finally up. If you've not read the revised ch34, you might want to do that before reading this thing. Here we go…  
  
Harry and Draco flew on until the sun began coming up on the horizon. Harry was aching badly at this point, and was beginning to tire considerably.  
  
"Draco, we-I need to set down and rest, I don't know how much longer I can go on." Harry said to Draco and the truth behind his words was obvious in his face.  
  
"Alright. Next lovely barn we come to we stop for a while." The contempt Draco had for barns was readily evident in his voice."  
  
"Thank you Draco." The two flew on a few more miles and settled in for a long winter's nap in a barn under a nearly full moon. Oh, was Draco ever happy…  
  
Hermione awoke about eight that morning. Her neck ached something fierce since she fell asleep in the chair while sitting rather awkwardly. She rolled her head around in an attempt to loosen the knotted muscles and had a little relief. She gazed over to the other chair and saw Colin still passed out. He looked like he was in pain.  
  
She pulled his blanket up a little higher and wondered to herself. 'I wonder if he's feeling Harry's pain right now? I do hope he isn't hurt too badly.' Hermione got up and wandered around the common room. 'If everything went according to their plan, they should be on their way back sometime today.'  
  
Hermione decided that it was a good time for some cocoa so she summoned herself some and sat back and relaxed in the glow of the fire. She dozed off again but was woken by the arrival of the rest of the Gryffindors in the common room, ready for another day of shenanigans.  
  
"They'd better bring some good stories back with them, or else I'll be pissed." That was definitely Seamus. He was ranting to Neville about his exclusion still.  
  
"If they have been at Malfoy Manor, I'm sure there will be a few, Seamus, so don't worry." That was Neville, again trying to calm Seamus down.  
  
"Will you two be quiet?" Hermione asked them, motioning to Colin. "He didn't sleep hardly at all last night, so please try not to wake him now, okay?"  
  
"Oh, sure Hermione. I 'm sorry. I didn't notice him there. Is Harry okay?" Seamus asked, aware of whatever bond that existed between the two.  
  
"Colin thinks he's more or less okay. He knows Harry is hurt, but he doesn't know how bad."  
  
"You don't agree with him, do you?" Neville asked.  
  
"Honestly, no. I think Harry is bad off. I don't know why I think that, but I can't convince myself otherwise."  
  
"I hope you're wrong, Hermione," Neville said.  
  
Ron woke up a little while later feeling just as tired as when he went to bed. His legs ached like there was no tomorrow. His head was throbbing. 'I probably have the flu,' he thought to himself. He got put of bed and decided that a hot shower might be the answer to his aches. After he stepped out he found that it did help some, with the legs anyway, but not the head. He dressed and ventured down into the common room to meet the others for breakfast.  
  
After breakfast was over they all hurried back to the common room, anxious to make it through this day and hopefully end their ruse. Many games of Exploding Snap were played, with Seamus being the overall winner, many things discussed, many an hour spent doing absolutely nothing, and they all enjoyed it. Well, almost all of them.  
  
Colin was feeling more and more worried for Harry as the day dragged on. He couldn't put a finger on it at first, but the more that he thought about it, the more he was sure that he'd not see Harry again. This thought frightened Colin to no end, so he confided in Hermione during a break between the matches.  
  
"Hermione, I don't think I'll see Harry again."  
  
"Colin! That is nonsense. Just wait, he'll be back by tomorrow morning at the latest. Now stop that rubbish talk."  
  
"I don't know, Hermione. Have you ever had premonitions like that?"  
  
"Unfortunately, no. I'm not at all attuned to the extra sensory things like most of the others seem to be. I can imagine that they are probably unsettling though, especially if they confirm your worst fears."  
  
"That is exactly what they are doing. I just can't get over this feeling."  
  
"Well, Colin, as your elder, by one year, I order you to stop it. Just think about all the wonderful times you've had together and those feelings will overpower the negative thoughts. Besides, they are only your worries, you know?"  
  
"I hope you're right, Hermione. I don't know what I will do if--"  
  
"First off, you won't finish that sentence, and second of all, it's your deal, now get on with it, Colin." She smiled at him and passed him the cards..  
  
The morning slid into afternoon and the afternoon into early evening. Every single person in the Gryffindor common room was on edge. No one could put a finger on it, but it felt like they were on a runaway train [[[to be more correct, a runaway story]]]. Ron had been sitting in a chair by the fire, having lost his patience for Snap an hour ago when he decided to go up to the room and put on another shirt, the tower being a little chillier than normal.  
  
He was picking a lovely Mrs. Weasley Special out when he fell to his knees with his head feeling like it was about to burst. He rested his head on the floor and gritted his teeth while waiting for the pain to pass. It finally went on and then he heard a voice speaking in his head.  
  
"I do hope I got your attention, Ron. This is the end of the road, tonight."  
  
"What are you talking about, Surtain?" Ron called slowly getting to his feet.  
  
"Why, tonight we put all the fruits of your labor to use, and finish my project."  
  
"I've not done anything for you. What do you mean, fruits of my labor?"  
  
"Oh, Ron, you've been doing so much for me, but I guess you don't remember. Ever wonder why you're so tired these days, Ron?"  
  
"I'm getting the flu, I suppose."  
  
"No, you've been gathering me supplies at night, especially lately."  
  
"I most certainly have not."  
  
"I'd tell you to ask your friends, but I've done my best to keep them away from you. Young Colin Creevey nearly discovered you, but his attention became diverted elsewhere. I know not by what, and frankly have no care."  
  
"So what is this master plan of yours?" Ron asked him.  
  
"Ah, I won't ruin the surprise for you, but you will be playing a great part in it all. You will be remembered forever because of it, I wager."  
  
"Well, whatever it is, I am not helping you do it."  
  
"Oh Ron, you seem to think you have a choice."  
  
"I do. I tell you no, and to go f-"  
  
"Spare me the profanities, Ron. You have no choice. It is that simple. I've controlled you for this long, one more night won't hurt anything."  
  
"What do you mean you controlled me?"  
  
"Are you really that dense, Ron? I've controlled you since the day you left Hogwarts last summer, to some degree or another. Each and every day. Remember the headaches? The depression? All the joys?" Ron looked in the mirror and saw his look of surprise on his face. "All caused by me. You were difficult at first, but I figured you out, simplified you. Owned you. And you are certainly 'not' backing out of this now."  
  
Ron was just about to yell out when another wave of pain rolled over him like a tidal wave. He tried to fight it off for as long as he could, but he failed. Merlin help us, he failed. Ron got back up and fixed his robes in the mirror and went back down to the common room, biding his time until dark.  
  
"Harry, Harry, wake up." Draco was lightly shaking Harry's less injured arm, trying to rouse him without hurting him further. Draco looked out through a gap in the barn wall and saw the sun was high in sky. He cursed himself for falling asleep, they'd been asleep for about three hours more than Draco had planned. The adventure home had taken a bigger mental toll than he'd imagined, it seemed.  
  
"Harry, please." Draco gave up on trying to rouse him with shakes. He pinched Harry as hard as he could on the inside of his upper arm.  
  
"Ouch! What the hell? Draco? Did I take your blanket or something?"  
  
"No Harry. Sorry to wake you that way, but you were dead to the world." he looked at Harry a second before continuing. He didn't look any better than he did before, maybe worse. He was surely paler. "I'd like to let you sleep longer and let your wounds fix a bit more, but we simply can't stay here any longer."  
  
Harry got to an elbow and looked out the same gap Draco'd used a moment before. "What time is it?"  
  
"It's about two or so, I would say. Come on Harry, we have to get going. I feel like we are already late for something."  
  
"I feel it as well. Help me up, Draco, please?" together, they gingerly got Harry to his feet and with quite a few winces got out of the barn relatively unnoticed. After mounting their brooms they took skyward. Draco watched Harry while he was flying, looking for signs of fatigue or anything. Poison? Oh he hoped not. He vowed to deal with his father personally if any of this hurt his friends further, Dark Side magic and all.  
  
"Hear my words, father. You will pay."  
  
Draco set his attentions back to the sky in front of him and Harry to the right of him and banished all thoughts of retribution till later on.  
  
Dinner was a long and boring affair. Back into the common room they all went, waiting for the day to end and see Harry and Draco when they woke up. Ron sat by himself in the same chair he'd been in all day, staring into the fire. Seamus had finally given up being pissed and was now only interested in getting this ordeal over with. Neville was dozing off sitting next to him, worn out from two days of ranting Seamus. Even the usual vibrant Dennis and Aidan were subdued. The waiting had stressed them all out more than they'd admit. Even Hermione was yawning, something she rarely did. Everyone seemed to just be going on by autopilot. Finally she spoke up.  
  
"Alright everyone. This is getting ridiculous. We're all tense, tired and worried. It is just after ten now, so why don't we all turn in and when we wake back up Harry and Draco will have returned."  
  
"That is the best idea I've heard all day, Hermione," Ron said and grinned.  
  
"Aye, I agree with Ronnikins," Seamus said as he put am arm under Neville's lightly snoring body and picked him up. The whole room seemed wildly receptive to the idea, so off they went, Dennis and Aidan dragging the frowning Colin with them.  
  
Hermione retired to her dorm and enjoyed the change in the air. The common room had been filled with negativity, but up here there was none of that. She still had her worries, but told herself that they were unfounded. Hermione propped herself on a few pillows and got another big book out and started reading, too worked up to sleep yet.  
  
Ron turned in, as did Seamus and Neville, the latter two being too tired to do anything but a little fooling around before falling asleep. He laid on his bed and stared out the window, waiting for the right time after everyone was asleep.  
  
"Go to bed, Colin. It's like Christmas, you know. The sooner you get to sleep, the sooner you'll wake up, then you can open your present," Aidan told him.  
  
"I know, I'm going. You two sound like Mum sometimes, you know?"  
  
"Yes dear, we know," Dennis said in an imitation of his mother's voice. The three of them dozed off sometime around quarter till eleven.  
  
Ron was still laying on his bed, waiting. One by one he felt the others go under, except for Hermione. Ron (Surtain) never really ever got a feeling for her, it was as if she was invisible to him. No matter. It was time.  
  
Ron got back up and quietly put his robes back on. One shoe, then the other. His wand was stuck in a pocket and he was ready to go. He headed out of his door and down one flight of steps and then entered another door. Ron slowly opened the door and snuck a peek. He heard all three boys sleeping so he silently made his way over to the bed in the middle.  
  
"Slumbiero!" he said and a small light shot out to Colin and settled upon him, vanishing inside. The boy's breathing slowed as he entered a very deep, magically aided sleep. "Come on Colin, upsy-daisy. We've got a little trip to the Astronomy Tower," he said. He hoisted Colin up on one shoulder and started walking back out the door.  
  
"Hey Ron, where're you going with Colin?" Dennis asked in a very groggy voice.  
  
"Nowhere. Go back to sleep." he growled.  
  
Dennis rubbed his eyes and looked at Ron in the dim light. "What about the Astronomy Tower?" Ron was irritated now. He pulled his wand back out and uttered one word.  
  
"Stupefy!" he looked as Dennis passed out, then he went ahead and zapped Aidan as well, just for good measure. With that, he stepped out of the fourth year's dorms and made his way to the Astronomy Tower. He arrived about the time another Gryffindor made a very important discovery.  
  
Hermione was still flipping through the old History of Magic book she'd picked up. Sleep was beginning to fall heavy on her, but only a little so far. 'Ten more pages, then I'll turn in, and all this can be over in the morning,' she thought to herself. She slowly read the lines, sleep taking over slowly but surely with ever line.  
  
"Bloody Hell!" she cried as she stumbled upon a very particular name. "Surtain!" she was fully awake and reading now, all pretenses of sleep thrown away.  
  
"A master of the Dark Arts from long ago," she read, "Executed finally in a gruesome ceremony after years on the run from authorities." She went on to finish more of his bio, and I'd tell you what all was in there, but there isn't enough room on your screen. Needless to say he makes Ted Bundy look like a cub scout.  
  
"Oh my!" she said aloud, "Draco said he heard Ron say that name in the Astronomy Tower!" Hermione jumped out of bed, heading to warn Ron of the dangers that this spirit or whatever possessed.  
  
She took the steps to his dorm four at a time, busting in but seeing nothing but a sleeping Seamus and Neville. Ron's bed was messed up and empty. "No!" she whispered and ran back out the door, heading for the Astronomy Tower.  
  
  
  
Sorry this chapter took so long, I just didn't like what I wrote so I took about a week getting it acceptable. Well, I also have been on a little Digimon story kick, so that likely didn't help anything either. As you can probably guess, the next chapter is the last (finally!!!) (can you say runaway story? Sheesh.) drop a review or two, if you please. 


	36. The End (or is it only the beginning???)

Well, nearly two months later, I finally get the motivation to write the end of this story. I have been suffering from a prolonged bout of Digimon- itis and anime watching in general and it is just now letting up. I have quite a few HP ideas in the works so just bear with me. Oh, and thanks to Dark Angemon for giving me the link to a pic of Colin. 10000 points for you!!!! Anyway, I hope those of you who read this have some remembrance of what happened a while ago. Just in case, here is a little summary of the major events that have led us here.  
  
Voldemort is on the move and Dumbledore has left Hogwarts to aid the battles. Draco has renounced his earlier ways and turned his back on his family. He and Harry have traveled to Malfoy Manor to get proof of Lucius' evil ways. Ron is being dominated by the spirit of an ancient Dark Wizard. Harry was nearly killed in the Manor and Draco used Dark Magic to save him, causing Draco much guilt. Everyone in Gryffindor is eagerly awaiting their return under a cloud of uncertainty. Ron's dominated body begins the final preparations for some gruesome ritual and Hermione learns the truth about who is doing it.  
  
I know that isn't the greatest, but it will have to do. So, without further adieu, here we go..  
  
Harry and Draco were flying low and fast over the countryside. The sun had long set and it was getting bitterly cold. Draco was worrying more and more about Harry the further they flew because he was slouching further and further over his broom in obvious exhaustion and pain. He watched as Harry shook his head to clear cobwebs and then wince at the exertion.  
  
"Harry," Draco shouted over the wind, "can you make it the rest of the way? Honestly?"  
  
"I have to, Draco. I don't think I have a choice. We have to get back as soon as possible." Harry was about to say more when his face went blank for a minute and then he yelled out.  
  
"Harry, what was it?" Draco asked fearfully.  
  
"Something just happened to Colin, just now. I don't know what, but it was bad. Very bad." Draco watched as Harry seemed to be reenergized and got back into a more aerodynamic position on his broom. Draco took little solace in that because he noticed that part of Harry's robe was sticking to his back, right about where he got slashed by the beast in the manor, indicating fresh blood leaking from the bandages.  
  
"Hang in there Harry," he thought, "we're almost there. Another half hour at the most." He kept hoping that Harry wasn't poisoned by that creature.  
  
Hermione raced at full speed to the Astronomy Tower, hoping against hope that she could get there before anything bad happened. She had never felt anything like she was feeling now, a deep foreboding that ate her to the core. "This must be what Colin was feeling earlier," she thought as she took the steps three at a time. "No wonder he was all weirded out."  
  
She finally made it to the landing and was nearly out of breath. She paused only for a moment and tried to open the door but found it locked. "Alohamora," she chanted, but was disappointed when it wasn't opening. "Well, then I guess I'll have to use a more powerful unlocking spell," she said aloud and stepped back. She pointed her wand and let loose another string of syllables and grinned in satisfaction when the door exploded backwards with a boom and a gout of flame, blown completely off its hinges. Her grin quickly faded once she stepped in the room through the clearing smoke and dust. What she saw rocked her to say the least.  
  
A gigantic, bubbling pot was in the center of the area, a raging fire stoking it hot. Something was floating directly over it, what was that? "Oh no!" she gasped as she recognized it as the sleeping form of Colin. He was floating on his back, spread-eagled with his limbs seemingly taut. She had barely formed the idea of getting him away from there when a voice called from the shadows.  
  
"Ah, a visitor," it said and Hermione turned to face this new sound. She saw what appeared to be a nearly corporal creature hovering a few inches above the ground, dressed in ancient and tattered clothes. Beside it was Ron, eyes completely empty with a large knife in one hand, the blade of which glinted cruelly in the soft light.  
  
"Ron, what are you doing here? With him?" Hermione screamed, her voice echoing.  
  
"Don't waste your voice, girl, he can't even hear you right now. He is my puppet, my tool."  
  
"What are you doing with Colin Creevey?" She said with as much bravery as she could muster, which wasn't all that much since she was scared out of her mind at the moment.  
  
"It is simple, child, quite simple. I am going to kill the boy and live again." He looked at the horror on her face and smiled a viciously maniacal smile. "See, isn't that simple?"  
  
"I, I won't let you do that, Surtain. Forget about it." Hermione pulled her wand from her robe pocket and pushed her sleeves up, ready for battle.  
  
"Really? I somehow doubt you can do anything about it, child."  
  
"We'll see about that," Hermione said and started flicking her wand. Before she could as much utter a sound, a debilitating cold stole over her, wracking her in chills. She felt her consciousness quickly slipping away. "Ron, help me." she squeaked before passing out in a heap.  
  
"Foolish child." Surtain looked over her body. "Bind her and put her in the corner. I might have use for her once I have a body again." Ron started walking to Hermione's limp form and drug her off to the corner and tied her to the wall.  
  
Harry and Draco didn't bother with a door, instead they flew directly into one of the windows in the hallway outside the Gryffindor tower. They rushed through the doorway, pissing off the freshly awoken Fat Lady and rushed up the steps. Draco was right behind Harry as he stormed into Colin's room, waving all the lights on. Harry saw two beds filled, neither of them Colin's. He pulled a sheet off one of them and saw Dennis.  
  
"Dennis, wake up. You have to wake up!!" Harry yelled as he shook the boy. "Get up!!" Dennis finally began to come around.  
  
"Harry, you're back," Dennis started talking but was interrupted by Harry.  
  
"Where's Colin, Dennis? Where is he?"  
  
"Ron took him," Dennis said slowly.  
  
"He's been cursed, Harry," Draco said, quite sure of it.  
  
"Where to, Dennis?"  
  
"He took him to the Astronomy Tower. You have to save him, Harry, you have to save my brother."  
  
"I'm on it, Dennis," Harry said as he was already heading for the door. He turned quickly to face Draco.  
  
"You're not coming with me, Draco." Draco started to protest but Harry never gave him the chance. "You've got to go find McGonagall." Draco looked rooted to the floor. "GO!!" Harry yelled and took off, Draco a few seconds behind him.  
  
By the time Harry made it but halfway to the Astronomy Tower, it felt as if his whole body was on fire. Weakness was sapping his strength, and his wounds were bleeding freshly again. His head was pounding but he shunted the pain aside and stormed on.  
  
"The time is at hand, my slave. Wake up the lamb," Surtain said to Ron. Ron nodded slightly and walked to the form hovering above the caldron. He slapped Colin's face quite hard and that did the charm. Colin awoke and was looking around, trying to figure out what was going on.  
  
"What am I doing here?" he asked Ron but got no reply. He then saw the spirit in the shadows and asked the same to it.  
  
"You are here, Colin Creevey, to die, so that I may live again." The spirit grinned again, scaring Colin terribly. Surtain looked at the sky and saw the conditions were perfect. "Now Ron, complete the task.  
  
Colin tried to squirm but found he couldn't move an inch. He tried to yell but found no breath to do so. Ron walked close again and pulled the long bladed knife from his side and settled into position.  
  
"Noooooo!!!!" Colin screamed as he finally found his voice. As the blade sunk into the soft skin of his neck, Colin made one last sound, a cry that shook the entire school. "Harry!!!!!" The words died on his lips as he felt himself slipping away. The last thing Colin did was turn his head to one side and saw his life blood flowing into the bubbling mixture below, making it steam up and throw off beams of soft red light. His last thought was "The sunset. How nice. Where's Harry?"  
  
"Well done, my slave. Now take the body and set it aside. Your part is over. I know but have to wait for the spell to complete itself." Ron obeyed and took Colin's no longer suspended body and deposited it by the wall. The caldron's light continued to pulse and bubble all the while.  
  
While running up the last flight of steps, Harry heard Colin's blood- chilling scream and then felt his passing. He sank to his knees as a pain so much worse than anything imaginable washed over him, dulling him, enraging him. After a minute, he climbed to his feet and ascended the last few steps, determined to kill someone. Harry found the door blown aside and stepped into the room. Amongst the smoke, he saw first Colin's body and then Ron holding the knife.  
  
"Ron, why?" he asked while blinking back tears. Ron gave no answer, only standing in one spot, knife still in hand. Harry walked up to him in a blind rage.  
  
"Why Ron? Why did you do it?" Ron still gave no answer. Harry pulled deep from within himself and swung at Ron, hitting him as hard as he possibly could. Ron's head flopped back and he went sprawling. Crying profusely now, he left Ron's unmoving body and slowly walked to Colin's.  
  
"Oh Colin, I'm so sorry I didn't get here in time. I'll never forgive myself for this. My angel is gone. My angel is gone." Harry picked Colin's body off the cold stone and held it close to his own. "Colin!!!!!" he screamed.  
  
"Ah, the mighty Harry Potter, reduced to a bawling child," a voice called from the other side of the room. "A pity you weren't here to see it, it was grand."  
  
"Who the hell are you?" Harry asked in rage. "What did you do?"  
  
"I didn't do anything directly. Your best friend Ron did it all for me, not exactly willingly, but I'll not argue semantics all evening."  
  
"Why?" was all Harry could muster.  
  
"So I can live again, why else? With his essence, I again have a body after so many long, cold years."  
  
"I'm going to kill you a second time, you know," Harry said as he rose to his feet. He set Colin's body gently to the side and saw the stone glow softly. "Colin," he whispered as he broke the stone from the clasp. Why he did this, he didn't know, he just did it.  
  
"Harry, run for it! He's dangerous!!" Hermione called from the other side of the room. She had just awoken and heard the last few snippets of conversation.  
  
"Hermione?" Harry called and saw her laying by the wall.  
  
"Run Harry, run."  
  
"Somehow I doubt that the brave Harry Potter will run," the spirit said, gaining positive form by the second. It was now almost opaque. "Please, stay. Stay and die along with your love."  
  
"No!!" Harry yelled and pulled the stone in front of him. It glowed a fierce orange-yellow and a bolt of flame rushed from it and struck Surtain, taking him by complete surprise.  
  
"I don't know where you got that ancient relic, but I do know that you don't have the foggiest idea of its true power. Now I will show you the error of your ways. A jet of blue-white flame struck Harry seemingly from nowhere, but instead of burning, it was so very cold.  
  
"Did you like that Harry Potter? Well how about this?" Surtain asked as he waved a hand and sent Harry flying into the wall near Ron.  
  
Harry lifted his head, taking every ounce of strength he had and looked directly at Surtain. Surtain was grinning at him. "If it is any consolation, you will help me rise in infamy. I will have killed Harry Potter, something that Voldemort has been trying for years. First you, then the world." Surtain was laughing.  
  
Harry pulled himself to his feet and started walking toward him. He no longer had the stone in his hand, he had dropped it when he was tossed across the room. Harry pulled his wand and pointed it. Hermione screamed. Surtain grinned. Ron came to, himself again.  
  
"Go ahead, Harry, do whatever you can."  
  
Harry gritted his teeth and found himself repeating the words that Draco had uttered a day or so before. The green-black lightning launched from his wand and hit Surtain squarely in the chest. Hermione screamed again. Surtain looked momentarily hurt and then laughed. "You know Harry, I could use you as an apprentice. I know for a fact that you've never used that before and you have great potential. I could use you, but I won't." Surtain pointed his finger and a small glowing blue orb made its way slowly to Harry. It stopped a few feet away and hovered a second before exploding in icy shards. Harry was thrown backwards and cut everywhere.  
  
Ron shook his cobwebs away. He looked up and saw Harry fly backwards and get up and get knocked back again. He felt something warm in his hand and looked down to find the stone that Harry had received so long ago. A voice spoke in his head, a voice he'd heard in a dream even longer ago. "Now Ron, now is the time. A wrong may be righted, as long as the soul is willing. Are you willing?" Ron searched his heart for a scant few seconds before finding the answer. He knew what all he'd done. "Yes," Ron said strongly, causing the attention of Surtain and Hermione to shift his way.  
  
"You know the cost, are you ready?" the voice asked and Ron knew. He knew too well.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Then it is done." Ron felt the stone start to hum lightly and he was suddenly flooded with the knowledge of the ages. He felt warm, he felt light. He felt himself begin to lift from the ground.  
  
Hermione watched as Ron talked to himself and then began to glow. He levitated off the ground and became wreathed in flame. Hermione's jaw dropped as she saw a form emerge around him, slowly coalesce into a flaming bird. A phoenix. "Ron, no," she yelled as she suddenly had an idea of what was going to happen. Be it insight, a good guess, or dumb luck, she knew. Ron's glowing form glided in between Surtain and Harry's body.  
  
"No you don't," Surtain yelled and threw another icy ball at Ron. Ron raised a hand/wing and the sphere melted in mid-flight.  
  
"Yes," Ron said in an old voice. "Your time is over." A small ball formed in front of Ron and grew in intensity and size, quickly gaining the size of a softball. "Farewell, Surtain. You used me and now you must be destroyed. Prepare for hell." Ron spoke again in that ancient voice. The ball of light exploded into a white beam and raced through the room and hit Surtain. It engulfed him and he began to dissolve into nothingness while emitting a horrible scream.  
  
Once Surtain was gone, for good, the phoenix turned to Hermione and her bindings dissolved. "Ron, don't do it, please."  
  
"I have to, Hermione," he said, his voice resonating deeply in the room. "I have no choice. I have to fix what I've done." Hermione was crying profusely.  
  
"No Ron, don't!"  
  
"I'm sorry, Hermione, I must. Please, please tell Harry I never meant to hurt him or Colin ever. Please, make him understand, Hermione."  
  
"You can tell him yourself, just don't, Ron."  
  
"I'm sorry, Hermione, I've made my choice and I must go through with it. Farewell, I must finish what I've started. Make him understand, please."  
  
Hermione raised her hand to block the blinding light that was coming from Ron. She then felt and heard a shriek that defies description shake the room and then there was silence. All the golden light, the phoenix, and Ron collapsed into a small sphere and settled over Colin's body. The light poured into the corpse, healing the wounds, bringing color back to the skin. The ball settled into the body and within seconds was gone.  
  
"Ron!!!" Hermione cried and she felt him disappear. She watched in amazement as Colin stirred and soon sat up.  
  
"Hermione, what just happened?" Colin asked in wonderment. Hermione could find no words to describe the events so she said nothing at all and cried.  
  
Draco and Professor McGonagall stormed into the room at that moment to find a hysterical Hermione, a bewildered Colin, and a badly injured Harry.  
  
Man, I wish I'd have written that long ago now. It just flowed onto the screen unlike anything I've written before. It was like it was alive and trying to get out. I hope that anyone who's made it through the whole story isn't too disappointed in the ending. I don't know if I dropped enough hints about the power of the stone before, but it will have to do. Just don't be like, 'well, that was sort of cheesy'.  
  
Now that I'm back to writing HP again, look for more of this soon. It will be a sequel to the story; I won't say too much right now, just be ready for Harry having problems with Ron's gift, a quest, ancient places far away, high magic, and Draco's atonement. I won't give you the title now because it will give away too much too early. Just keep checking back, k?  
  
energy 


	37. Epilogue, Explanations, and Expectations

Harry woke up in the hospital a few days after the fateful night. The calendar said that it was December 22, a few days before Christmas and about the middle of the winter break. Harry heard voices first, very quietly talking not too far from him. He slowly opened his eyes and saw nothing but a bunch of blurs. After he squinted his eyes a few times they began to clear and shapes began to form. He turned his head slightly and saw Hermione talking with Seamus, Neville and Draco about ten feet away. A slight snore from his other side made him turn the other way and he saw Colin asleep in a chair beside the bed. Harry felt sleep rushing up on him again, then his mind realized the fact that Colin was sitting beside him, asleep and not dead. He jerked upright in a half second.  
  
"Harry's awake!" Neville called from the small group and the four of them were moving to his side.  
  
"Quiet Neville," Hermione chided, "you might wake Colin, and you know how much sleep he's gotten in the last few days."  
  
"Sorry," he said as they drew close.  
  
"Harry, good to see you awake, mate," Seamus said after they were sitting in silence for a few seconds. The others nodded in agreement but said nothing. Another pregnant silence filled the room.  
  
"Okay, I think someone needs to explain something to me," Harry said very quietly. "The last thing I remember is Ron having killed Colin and fighting with the spirit or whatever it was." Hermione shared glances with the three other boys and finally spoke again with their consent.  
  
"Alright, Harry. This is what happened. Ron did kill Colin, but it wasn't really Ron in control of Ron's body." Harry looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "The spirit of an evil wizard was controlling him, and had been controlling him all term it seems. He had no control over what he did."  
  
"Where is Ron?" Harry asked sternly, still mad at him, but not as much as just a few minutes ago.  
  
"I'm getting there, Harry. When you were fighting the spirit he somehow lost control over Ron. Maybe he gave it up, I don't know. But after you attacked him a second time and he struck you down, Ron picked up the stone you dropped and used it." Hermione stopped for a moment and composed herself. "He unleashed the power of the stone and became one with some sort of phoenix. They destroyed the spirit and then they turned to Colin's body and resurrected him. The last thing he said to me was for me to try to make you understand that he never meant to hurt neither you nor Colin. He said that it was all his fault and he had to make amends for it." "He sacrificed himself for the two of you, Harry," Neville said when he saw a look of incomprehension on Harry's face.  
  
"He, he died for Colin?" Harry asked, incredulous. Harry shook his slowly in disbelief. Harry glanced up at the ceiling and spoke in a tear filled voice, "Thank you, Ron, thank you." He looked back down at Colin's sleeping form and saw the younger boy rubbing sleep from his eyes. Colin's eyes grew as big as a baseballs and a huge smile spread across his face.  
  
"Harry!!" he cried out and launched himself from his chair onto Harry's bed, tears flowing from both him and Harry.  
  
  
  
I just couldn't leave the story where it was, so I pretty much just gave you guys part of the first chapter of the sequel. I also just wanted to say a few things about this story before I hang it up. First off, sorry to everyone who stuck around for the entire thing and endured my ramblings. This was my first story for FF.N and I was just pretty much experimenting with style and dialogue with it, having no intention of making it into the long winded thing it eventually became. I kept having new ideas and more new ideas and this thing just grew. It actually got a plot about the time Harry and Ron started having problems. Originally it was going to be a jealousy issue with Ron but the idea generator inside my head wanted to throw in the whole phoenix idea after seeing about eleventy billion stories about 'the order of the phoenix'. Maybe I should have started over, who knows. I'm fairly happy after it is finished and I hope you guys are too.  
  
Second, I wanted to touch on Ron's seemingly inexplicable behavior. In a review enoimreH mentioned that Ron's behavior never really was well explained. My boyfriend (my Colin ;) [I just wish I was as cute as Harry.] mentioned the same thing. Here is an attempt to fix that. Surtain noticed Ron sometime in the previous year (I mentioned that somewhere in the middle of the story) and felt the potential power within him and planted a little something in his head. On the way to Colin's house way back when, the power of Surtain started to manifest itself. At first it just made him irritable then progressed to anger and depression. These emotions fueled Surtain and allowed him to begin his quest to live again. When Ron passed out on the rocks near the lake he did so because he nearly threw Surtain out of his head and that really pissed the spirit off and he retaliated on Ron. every time he visited Surtain in the tower he unconsciously powered him further, letting the power Surtain held over him grow even stronger, pretty much making him a puppet for Surtain to pull strings on whenever he wanted to. I hope that might clear that up for everyone.  
  
Third, I just wanted to describe the way I saw the final act to you all, mainly to see if you got the message I was trying to get across. When Ron first activated the stone, light surrounded him like (okay, I know this will make me sound like a video game dork, but oh well.) a Limit Break from Final Fantasy 7. For those of you who haven't played the second best game in the series (after FF1), a small ring of light appears around the character and then explodes upwards around them, pulsing. Then, when the phoenix emerged the way I saw it was sort of like the Phoenix Saga or whatever it was called in the X-men cartoon. Jean Grey was surrounded by a flaming bird that added to her already massive mental powers. Little bits of flame dripping off like candle wax and everything..  
  
Alright, I've rambled on long enough and said what I wanted to say, so I'll stop it for now. Just keep on the lookout for the sequel, tentatively called 'Resurrection'. it might not be out as quickly as I hope because I just got back in school today and my education will have to take precedence. I'm sure you understand. It won't be another 7 weeks, I can promise you that!  
  
Well, thanks for all the reviews and I'll get writing as soon as I can. Peace and love.  
  
energy 


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